Karnataka Bureau
With Karnataka Legislative Council Chairman Basavaraj Horatti set to resign from his post to contest on BJP ticket in the Karnataka West Teachers’ constituency polls, a pro tem chairman will be appointed.
Sources said the appointment of the pro tem chairman will be necessitated since the post of Deputy Chairman has also been lying vacant. M.K. Pranesh, who was Deputy Chairman before he was reelected to the House in December 2021, was expected to be renominated for the post by the party, but it has not happened so far. Mr. Horatti will be seeking a record eighth consecutive term this election, and has been assured by the BJP that he will become the chairman once re-elected.
A secretariat source said: “In the absence of the Deputy Speaker, the Chief Minister has to send a proposal nominating a MLC to the Governor to be appointed as the pro tem chairman. Though seniority is normally considered, it is the prerogative of the Chief Minister to nominate the pro tem chairman.” The appointment is necessary since the chairman post is a constitutional post that cannot be lying vacant.”
Currently, the panel of chairman, who officiate the house proceedings in the absence of the chairman, has BJP MLCs Tejaswini Gowda and Bharathi Shetty, K.T. Srikante Gowda of JD(S), and Veena Achaiah of Congress. Both Mr. Gowda and Ms. Achaiah are retiring, leaving only the BJP MLCs on the panel. Meanwhile, BJP sources said that besides Mr. Pranesh, senior member Ayanur Manjunath and Sashil Namoshi are also lobbying for the Deputy Chairman post.
