The Congress party in Mysuru has urged the Legislative Assembly Speaker Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri to suspend former Chief Minister and JD (S) leader H.D. Kumaraswamy from the Assembly for reportedly belittling the post of Leader of the Opposition, which is a constitutional post.
Addressing a press conference in Mysuru on Wednesday, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) spokesperson M. Lakshmana said Mr. Kumaraswamy’s “unparliamentary” description of a constitutionally-recognised post attracts proceedings under the breach of privilege motion. Hence, the Speaker should suo motu take cognisance of the remarks and suspend the JD(S) leader and also consider cancellation of his membership.
Mr. Lakshmana claimed that the post of Leader of Opposition in the Assembly is like a “shadow” Chief Minister. The Leader of the Opposition acts like a watchdog against the Chief Minister, he said while seeking to remind Mr. Kumaraswamy that the post had been adorned by tallest leaders of the State including his father and former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda, besides former Chief Ministers D. Devaraj Urs, S.M. Krishna, B.S. Yediyurappa and himself (Mr. Kumaraswamy).
Mr. Lakshmana also advised Mr. Kumaraswamy to learn from his father, who never used such unparliamentary language against political opponents.
Questioning Mr. Kumaraswamy’s charge that the coalition government headed by him fell because of Mr. Siddaramaiah, Mr. Lakshmana sought to remind the JD(S) leader that he did not utter one word against the Congress leader when he spoke for more than four hours during the debate on no-confidence motion moved against his government. Instead, Mr .Kumaraswamy had accused the BJP of bringing down the coalition government through “Operation Kamala”.
The KPCC spokesperson said Mr. Kumaraswamy was targeting Mr. Siddaramaiah out of political frustration over survival of JD(S) or to facilitate the BJP.
Mr. Lakshmana said Mr. Kumaraswamy was training his guns against the Congress leader only to pit members of two castes against each other and gain political mileage out of the same.
He said the people of the State have realised that there is no political future for JD(S). But, Mr. Kumaraswamy was hoping for a hung Assembly in which his party ends up with 30 to 35 seats and go with whichever party offers it power. Even the BJP was waiting for the same, he said before adding that the Congress will win more than 150 seats in the next Assembly elections in Karnataka and defeat the ‘designs’ of the JD(S) and BJP.
Mr. Lakshmana said the JD(S) had fielded Muslim candidates in Sindagi and Hanagal bypolls allegedly at the behest of BJP only to divide the votes of the minority community and defeat the Congress. He also claimed that Mr. Kumaraswamy’s remarks against the RSS were only to divide the Muslim community and benefit the BJP in the byelections.
He rejected Mr. Kumaraswamy’s charge that Mr. Siddaramaiah had met Mr .Yediyurappa “secretly”. “If Mr. Siddaramaiah meets anyone, he will do it openly”, he said.
Mr Lakshmana also described as baseless the charges of collection of commission levelled against KPCC President D.K. Shivakumar in the tenders of Water Resources Department. “When Mr. Shivakumar was the Water Resources Minister, no tenders were invited. Tenders were invited only when Mr. Yediyurappa was the Chief Minister”, he said.
