Chaos prevailed in the Legislative Assembly throughout the day’s session on Monday as the combined Opposition BJP and JD(S) staged a vociferous dharna demanding that Housing Minister B.Z. Zameer Ahmed Khan should be sacked for his remarks on the Speaker’s chair.
When Mr. Zameer stood up to reply to the House on the queries related to his department during the Question Hour, Leader of the Opposition R. Ashok objected to the Minister being allowed to participate in transaction of official business of the legislature. He alleged that the Minister had brought disgrace to the Speaker’s chair and also tried to strain the Hindu-Muslim communal harmony through his reported remarks during the Telangana poll campaign that “all the BJP MLAs have to bow their head in the Karnataka Assembly before the Muslim speaker who was appointed by the Congress government.”
The BJP members led by Mr. Ashok maintained that the respect being paid by all the MLAs was towards the chair of the Speaker irrespective of the community they belonged to. But Mr. Zameer had brought disrespect to such a tradition associated with the Speaker’s chair through his remarks which were aimed at political gains, Mr. Ashok alleged and demanded that the Minister should be immediately sacked.
The BJP members trouped into the well of the House and began a dharna. Though Speaker U.T. Khader and senior Minister Krishna Byre Gowda requested the protesting members to follow the House rules and procedures by submitting a notice to raise the issue, the Opposition members continued with their dharna. They even started shouting slogans against Mr. Zameer and the Congress, accusing both of them of being communal in their approach.
Angered by this, Mr. Krishna Byre Gowda launched a counter attack by maintaining that Mr. Khan had not said anything that would bring disrepute to the Speaker’s chair. Similarly, the Speaker urged the protesting members to drop their protest if they were interested in discussion on drought gripping the State and issues related to North Karnataka.
When the protesting members refused to heed, the Speaker continued with the entire official business of the House as per the day’s agenda including Question Hour and consideration of Bills and government’s reply to discussion on drought even as the Opposition members continued their dharna in the well of the House.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who attended the post-lunch session, accused the BJP members of disrespecting the Constitution by disobeying rules and procedures. Urging the protesting members to submit a notice to the Speaker seeking permission to raise the issue, he said the government was ready to reply to them.
However, the protesting members did not pay heed to his suggestion and continued their protest till late in the evening when the session was adjourned for the day.
