Congress party has urged Legislative Assembly Speaker Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri to suspend former Chief Minister and JD(S) leader H.D. Kumaraswamy from the Assembly for ‘belittling the post of Leader of the Opposition’, which is a constitutional post.
Addressing a media conference in Mysuru on October 13, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) spokesperson M. Lakshmana said Mr. Kumaraswamy’s ‘unparliamentary’ description of a constitutionally-recognised post attracts proceedings under breach of privilege motion. Hence, the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly should suo moto take cognisance of the remarks and suspend the JD(S) leader from the Assembly, 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, he said while seeking to remind Mr. Kumaraswamy that the constitutional 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).
He advised Mr. Kumaraswamy to learn from his father, who never used 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 the no-confidence motion moved against his government. Instead, Mr. Kumaraswamy had accused the BJP of bringing down the coalition government through ‘Operation Kamala’.
He accused Mr. Kumaraswamy of training his guns on the Congress leader to pit members of two castes against each other and gain political mileage out of the same.
He said people have realised that there is no political future for JD(S) in Karnataka. But, Mr. Kumaraswamy is hoping for a hung Assembly in which his party ends up with 30 to 35 seats, and ally with whichever party offers to share power. Even the BJP is 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.
He accused the JD(S) of fielding Muslim candidates in Sindgi and Hangal by-polls at the behest of BJP 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 by-elections.
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.
He described as baseless the charge of collection of commission against KPCC president D.K. Shivakumar in tenders of the Water Resources Department. “When Mr. Shivakumar was the Water Resources Minister, no tenders were called. Tenders were invited only when Mr. Yediyurappa was the Chief Minister,” he said.
