It was pandemonium in the Legislative Assembly on Tuesday when Chief Minister Siddaramaiah turned the tables on BJP members, who were demanding enforcement of prohibition, by saying that their own leader B.S. Yeddyurappa was opposed to the arrack ban when he was Deputy Chief Minister.
The House barely transacted any business till 3.30 p.m. as BJP members staged a dharna demanding that the references be expunged. They withdrew the dharna only after the Speaker promised to look into the “unparliamentary references” made, if any.
Trouble began when Mr. Siddaramaiah intervened during Question Hour to categorically rule out BJP member C.T. Ravi’s demand for enforcing prohibition in the State. He said it was not practical as liquor could still be smuggled in from neighbouring States. Prohibition can be enforced only if the Centre takes a policy decision on making the entire country liquor-free, he said.
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However, Mr. Ravi went on to remark that it was “we (JD(S)-BJP coalition government) who banned arrack and we will enforce prohibition after coming to power”.
To this, the CM hit back: “To tell you the truth, Mr. Yeddyurappa was against the arrack ban. It was only because of pressure from the then Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy that arrack was banned.”
This triggered an outburst from the BJP contingent, who accused the CM of “unnecessarily trying to tarnish” their leader. There was a heated exchange and the BJP members trooped to the well of the House and commenced a dharna.
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The Speaker adjourned the House, which reconvened after he assuaged the BJP members.