Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network
Bengaluru, Jul 19: Ten BJP MLAs, including two former deputy chief ministers R Ashok and Dr C N Ashwath Narayan, have been suspended from the Assembly until the end of the current session of the Legislative Assembly.
The suspended MLAs, comprising five BJP representatives from the coastal districts of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi, are Vedavyas Kamath, Sunil Kumar, Yashpal Suvarva, Umanath Kotian, and Dr Bharat Y Shetty. The other suspended members are Aravind Bellad, Deeraj Muniraju, and Araga Jnanendra.
The suspension comes in response to the BJP MLAs' actions, which included insulting the Speaker's Chair and throwing paper missiles at the Deputy Speaker, Rudrappa Lamani, who was officiating as the presiding officer.
The suspension order was issued by the office of Speaker U T Khader.
The incident occurred when Congress member from Malavalli, P M Narendraswamy, praised the Congress government for promptly implementing the "5 Guarantees" after coming to power.
Reacting to Narendraswamy's remarks, the BJP members protested by entering the well of the house and staging a dharna. They further tore copies of the budget and hurled them as missiles at the Speaker's chair.
Deputy Speaker Rudrappa Lamani expressed his displeasure at the behavior of the BJP members and urged them not to act improperly and insult the people who had elected them. However, the BJP members persisted with their protest, shouting slogans, tearing papers, and throwing them, which eventually led to the adjournment of the session.
In response to the suspension, BJP leader and former Chief Minister, B. S. Bommai, referred to it as a black day for democracy. He accused the Congress government of behaving like an authoritarian regime under Hitler by misusing the office of the Speaker.
Protesting the suspension of the BJP members, both BJP and JD(S) members staged a dharna at the Vidhana Soudha West Gate. The police subsequently took the protesting MLAs into custody.
Bommai criticized the State Government for allegedly treating IAS officers as mere attendants and assigning them roles as personal assistants to individuals who did not warrant protocol treatment.
When questioned about the BJP members' conduct in insulting the Speaker's chair and Deputy Speaker Rudrappa Lamani, the former chief minister defended his party by pointing out that it was the Congress who insulted Lamani by not appointing him as a minister, limiting him to the role of Deputy Speaker only.
He asserted that the protest against the government would continue both inside and outside the legislature.