The Opposition sought discussion on the ministerial misconduct, but the Speakers denied permission

The misdemeanour of three Ministers watching porn clips in the Legislative Assembly on Tuesday rocked the Assembly on Wednesday with the entire Opposition seeking to disqualify the three members from the House.

The Assembly erupted in chaos as soon as it met in the morning as Opposition members shouted “shame, shame” at the Bharatiya Janata Party Government. Mr. Sadananda Gowda informed the House that the three Ministers had resigned on their own. All the three abstained from the House. Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly Siddaramaiah sought to move a resolution for immediate disqualification of the three members which Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister S. Suresh Kumar opposed on technical grounds.

Mr. Siddaramaiah alleged that the Government was defending the three Ministers. His statement that the Ministers were watching “blue films” while the House was discussing drought annoyed BJP member and State unit chief K.S. Eshwarappa who said the truth would come out only after an inquiry.

Flaying the Government for opposing the resolution seeking disqualification of three members on “technical grounds”, Mr. Siddaramaiah appealed to Speaker K.G. Bopaiah to use his “special powers” to expel them. “The three have violated the sanctity of the House and murdered democracy,” Mr Siddaramaiah said.

The Chief Minister said the House should function as per the rule and issues not listed in the agenda could not be debated as it would set a bad precedent. Amidst the din, Minister for Excise M.P. Renukacharya termed the incident a “closed chapter” as the three Ministers had resigned. But this did not satisfy the Opposition and the shouting grew louder. The Speaker adjourned the House.

Upper House

The situation was no different in the Legislative Council, with Opposition members commencing a dharna demanding that they should be allowed to discuss the issue. The members shouted slogans against the Government and displayed placards carrying anti-government slogans.

As soon as the House met in the morning, Leader of the Opposition Motamma appealed to Chairman D.H. Shankaramurthy to allow a discussion on the issue. The chairman said he would consider such requests only after the Question hour, if a notice in this regard was given to him.

But the entire Opposition took exception to it and maintained that discussion on such an important issue should not be stalled citing technical reasons. Meanwhile, Primary and Secondary Education Minister Vishweshwara Hegde Kageri stated on behalf of the Government that the three Ministers — Laxman Savadi, C.C. Patil and J. Krishna Palemar — involved in the controversy, had quit and that their resignations had been accepted by the Governor.

Responding to this, Janata Dal (Secular) floor leader M.C. Nanaiah maintained that the members had the right to seek clarifications. Terming the incident as a blow to the sanctity of the legislature, he said it was necessary to ensure that such incidents do not recur as people had started looking at legislators with contempt and suspicion. When Ms. Motamma demanded action against the three former Ministers, trouble broke out as ruling members, especially Minister Basavaraj Bommai and V. Somanna took exception to this. They maintained that the Council was not supposed to discuss the incident that had occurred within the Assembly. Reacting to this, Ms. Motamma remarked: “It is the question of respect of six crore people of the State and there must be a discussion on the issue.” This resulted in a heated exchange of words between the ruling and the Opposition members.

Meanwhile, the Chairman made it clear that as per rules, he cannot allow a detailed discussion on the issue without any notice issued by the Opposition. Taking exception to this, the Congress members trooped into the well of the House and commenced a dharna. The JD(S) members too joined them.

As things went out of order, the chairman adjourned the House till afternoon.

The Opposition continued the dharna in the post-lunch session sticking to its demand on a discussion on the issue. But the Chairman continued to maintain that there would be no discussion unless they withdrew their dharna.

Gowda’s plea

At this juncture, Chief Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda who came to the Legislative Council, tried to buy peace by agreeing for an ‘issue-specific’ discussion. He stated that the tainted Ministers had submitted their resignation and the Speaker of the Legislative Council would form a House panel to probe the issue. It was not fair to discuss the issue after the formation of a committee.

However, the Opposition refused to budge. Ms. Motamma demanded dissolution of the Government and trooped into the well of the House. Mr. Shankarmurthy adjourned the House for the day.