The act of three members of the Karnataka legislature using cellphones for entertainment, if one may call so, on the floor of the Legislative Assembly smacks of the manner in which the lawmakers have been bringing about disrepute to their very selves, leave alone strengthening the people’s apathy to the political establishment.
The incidents were reported during the ongoing legislature session in Belagavi, which has been primarily convened in the border city to discuss, in particular, the problems of the people in the north Karnataka region. Of the two-week session, the first week has ended with the cellphone matter hogging the limelight and with the legislators staging a protest and much time expended in the presiding officer’s chambers to thrash out a solution.
This is not the first instance of legislators using cellphone for pastime when the Legislative Assembly or the Legislative Council is in session. On the last occasion, (in February 2012), three Ministers of the D.V. Sadananda Gowda government (Bharatiya Janata Party) — Laxman Savadi, Krishna J. Palemar and C.C. Patil — were found watching pornography in the Assembly. They had to resign following the incident.
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The then Assembly Speaker, K.G. Bopaiah, going by the ruling of the Lok Sabha Speaker in the cash-for-vote scam involving BJP members, ruled that he was barring the three members concerned (the Ministers who had just resigned) from participating in the Assembly proceedings till a special inquiry panel he had set up gives its findings. It is another matter that the members were exonerated thereafter. In the present instance, the incumbent Speaker, Kagodu Thimmappa, has voiced his concern over the developments and suspended one member for a day and issued warning to the two others even as they tendered an apology.
Though not as serious as the first instance, on Wednesday, Prabhu Chavan, representing the Aurad constituency, was found flipping his cellphone when the Assembly was debating the sugarcane issue. M.H. Ambareesh, a Minister, was found showing some pictures to another member. Ironically, using mobile phones is banned in the Karnataka legislature, with even jammers installed.
It should be noted that it is the vigilant role played by an alert cameraman of a regional television channel that has exposed the nonchalant approach of some legislators to the discussions in the legislature although quite often the latter complain on the reduction in the days the legislature meets in a calendar year.
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Incidents of the kind witnessed here have also been reported in other States — the instance in the Gujarat Legislative Assembly in March 2012.
Incidentally, the legislature Secretariat in the States do not have the kind of funds allocated to the two Houses of Parliament which have a television channel of their own. Here again, the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha television provide live coverage, quite often.
As senior legislators point out, it is for the members of the legislature to gear up and prepare themselves for their role as lawmakers rather than force restrictions on the media coverage of their performance. They have to live up to their role rather than compel the voters to seek for their recall.