Bengaluru, Aug 4 (IANS) Senior BJP leader and Leader of the Opposition in the Karnataka Legislative Council, Chalavadi Narayanaswamy, on Tuesday accused the state government of acting in violation of the Constitution by announcing names for the posts of Speaker, Deputy Speaker, Chairman and Deputy Chairman of the Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council, even though the posts are not vacant.
It can be noted that along with Cabinet ministers, the Congress high command also approved appointments to key legislative posts in Karnataka. Senior Congress leader G.S. Patil has been nominated as the Speaker of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly, while A.S. Ponnanna will serve as the Deputy Speaker. For the Legislative Council, Saleem Ahmed has been approved as the Chairperson and Umashree as the Deputy Chairperson.
Addressing a press conference in Bengaluru, Narayanaswamy alleged that the Congress had committed a “constitutional impropriety” by declaring names for constitutional positions before the existing office-bearers had resigned or the posts had formally fallen vacant.
“The Congress frequently claims to protect the Constitution by carrying a copy of it everywhere. Yet it is the same party that has violated constitutional norms by announcing names for these posts,” he alleged.
Narayanaswamy said the names for such constitutional offices should be decided only on the floor of the House after the posts become vacant. He pointed out that the current Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, as well as the Chairman and Deputy Chairman of the Legislative Council, continue to hold office and have not resigned.
“How can the Congress announce names for these positions when none of them is vacant?” he questioned.
He demanded that the party apologise to the people of Karnataka and to the Legislature for what he termed a constitutional violation.
Narayanaswamy said there was no precedent for announcing names for presiding officers while incumbents continued in office.
He noted that a no-confidence motion against the Chairman or Speaker had not been moved and recalled that such a motion had been brought only once in the past against former Legislative Council Chairman Shankaramurthy, who had survived it.
He said that during the tenures of former Chief Ministers H.D. Deve Gowda, Ramakrishna Hegde and B.S. Yediyurappa, no such announcements had been made before vacancies arose.
“Once elected, the Speaker or Chairman continues in office until the end of the tenure unless they resign or are removed through the prescribed constitutional process,” he said.
Narayanaswamy said the announcement had caused embarrassment to incumbent Legislative Council Chairman Basavaraj Horatti.
“If Horatti had resigned, there would have been no issue in announcing another name. But he continues to hold office, and no one has seen such an announcement since Independence,” he said.
He further alleged that the Congress had not even held a courtesy meeting with Horatti before making the announcement and said the move had hurt members of the Legislative Council.
The BJP leader said the issue would be raised during the Legislature session beginning on August 13.
“The Congress has taken a wrong step. This is a betrayal of democratic traditions, and we will strongly oppose it in the House,” he said.
Narayanaswamy also attacked the Congress over the recent Cabinet expansion, alleging that the repeated changes in the list of ministers reflected confusion within the ruling party.
He also pointed to the absence of former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah from the swearing-in ceremony, alleging that it indicated serious internal differences within the party.
“The manner in which the Cabinet expansion took place is evident from the fact that several leaders who were denied ministerial berths are now threatening to resign,” he alleged.
BJP Legislative Council Chief Whip N. Ravikumar, BJP MLC C.T. Ravi and JD(S) Legislature Party leader in the Council S.L. Bhojegowda were also present at the press conference.
–IANS
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