The Hindu

BANGALORE, Jul 30: The Legislative Assembly witnessed pandemonium on Tuesday when Speaker Jagadish Shettar turned down the plea of Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly M. Mallikarjun Kharge to discuss Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Sushma Swaraj’s statement that blasts in Bangalore and Ahmedabad were a conspiracy to divert attention from the “cash-for-votes” scandal which rocked the Lok Sabha during the trust vote.

As soon as Kharge raised the issue, the ruling party members and Ministers were up on their feet and objected to the matter being raised in the House.

Mr. Kharge said he had every right to raise the issue since he was a member of the House.

He was also the president of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee and appealed to the Chair to allow him to speak on the issue.

But the Speaker rejected Mr. Kharge’s plea and said he would not allow members to speak on the issue since Ms. Swaraj was not a member of the House. Ms. Swaraj is member of the Rajya Sabha.

Congress members staged a dharna opposing the Speaker’s ruling.

With both the BJP and Congress members continuing with verbal volleys, the Speaker adjourned the House.

But the Congress members continued the dharna as soon as the House reassembled. With no other option, Mr. Shettar adjourned the House for the day.

No reference

Earlier, the Speaker said the Opposition could raise the issue if the Chief Minister or any other Minister had made the allegation. Ms. Swaraj had not spoken about the State Assembly.

The matter raised by the Congress leader was not connected to the House.

Political leaders speak on different issues on each day and the House could not debate on such issues, Mr. Shettar said.

The Speaker asked the Congress members to issue a counter statement against Ms. Swaraj outside the House.

Several members have given their names to speak on the State Budget, Mr. Shettar said and appealed to the Opposition to cooperate with him to conduct the proceedings of the House.

Minister for Transport R. Ashok and Minister for Energy K.S. Eshwarappa said the Opposition members had not been following the rule book of the House.

“If you don’t follow the rules, tear this book,” Mr. Eshwarappa said.

If the Congress members raised the issue, “we will raise various issues connected to Congress President Sonia Gandhi and MP Rahul Gandhi,” Mr. Eshwarappa said.