Karnataka political row hits the Speaker

www.mangaloretoday.com

Bengalore, Oct 15, 2010: A day after Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa won the trust vote for a second time, a new controversy has hit the Speaker.

 

It now appears that KG Bopaiah’s decision to disqualify rebel MLAs was not entirely his own and was influenced by the government. The decision to disqualify rebel MLAs was not entirely his own and was influenced by the government. This was made known to the Congress at a press conference where Bangalore Police Commissioner Shankar Bidari was asked to report on why uniformed policemen went inside the Assembly. 

The Speaker’s role is under scrutiny as the police knew 16 MLAs would be disqualified at least eight hours before the actual order came from the Speaker’s office. The report also implies that the decision to get disqualified MLAs out to the gates of the Vidhan Soudha was taken at the Chief Minister’s office at 10 am on October 10. The Congress now alleges that speaker acted at the behest of the state government.

The Bangalore Police Commissioner sent a report on October 12 to the DGP explaining why uniformed policemen went into the Assembly. 

Bidari says in his final summary that the "decision taken on October 10 that disqualified MLAs should be allowed up to the outer gate of the Assembly premises appears a serious error of judgement".

Bidari further says this meeting was held at the chief minister’s home Office at 10 am on October 10.

However, Speaker K G Bopaiah held his hearing on the disqualification petition only at 3.30 pm on October 10.
The actual decision to disqualify 11 rebel BJP MLAs and five Independent MLAs came only at 6 pm on October 10.

How did the police commissioner know at 10 am on October 10 that MLAs would be disqualified?
If the disqualification is found illegal, 16 MLAs would vote against the Yeddyurappa government and would reduce it to a minority. The Congress alleges the Speaker acted on the Chief Minister’s instructions.

“The letter clearly establishes conspiracy was hatched by the Chief Minister, speaker, and top officials to disqualify MLAs. The letter also shows speaker acted upon instructions of Chief Minister of why would they meet at Chief Minister’s house,” said Congress spokesperson V S Ugrappa.

“I don’t know about the entire scenario,” said Karnataka Home minister R Ashok.

Courtesy: IBN Live