Bengaluru, Aug 21 (IANS) Ruling party members of the Karnataka Legislative Council have complained to Chairman Saleem Ahmed that the continued protests and sloganeering by Opposition members for the past four days have disrupted legislative proceedings and deprived them of their rights to raise public issues.
In a letter submitted to the Chairman on Friday, the members said Opposition protests had prevented the House from conducting Question Hour, Zero Hour, attention-seeking motions and other legislative business.
The members, including former government Chief Whip and MLC, Ivan D’Souza, said several important issues concerning the people of Karnataka could not be discussed because of the disruptions.
They said the State was facing severe drought and the disruptions had prevented them from raising the issue of drought in the Council and urging the Centre to provide the required financial assistance.
“People are suffering due to the impact of drought. We cannot refrain from discussing the issue in the House and instead go before the people,” the members said.
They also sought an opportunity to discuss human-wildlife conflict in the Malnad region, the Kasturirangan report, drinking water shortages, farmers’ problems and issues concerning education.
The members said they had already submitted several proposals seeking discussions on these issues, but no opportunity was being provided because of the continued disruptions.
“Only a waste of the House’s time is taking place,” they said, urging the Chairman to take appropriate action over the conduct of the Opposition members.
The ruling party members said the Opposition’s conduct was against the functioning of the House and urged the Chairman to take suitable measures to ensure that legislative proceedings could continue smoothly.
It can be recalled that Karnataka Congress MLAs and MLCs staged a protest against the BJP on Friday, accusing the Opposition party of disrupting Assembly proceedings while demanding the resignation of Minister for Planning and Statistics, B. Nagendra, over his alleged involvement in the tribal welfare case.
Protesting against the alleged tribal welfare corporation irregularities and demanding the resignation of Minister B. Nagendra, Karnataka BJP MLAs and MLCs wearing black T-shirts were stopped by security personnel at the entrance of the Vidhana Soudha on Friday, following which they forced their way into the legislature.
–IANS
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