The Hindu : Karnataka News : Bonhomie marks oath-taking ceremony

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jun 10, 2004

Karnataka

Karnataka

Bonhomie marks oath-taking ceremony

By Our Special Correspondent

The Chief Minister, Dharam Singh, greeting the former Chief Minister, S.M. Krishna, on the first day of the Legislative Assembly session in Bangalore on Wednesday.

BANGALORE, JUNE 9. The maiden session of the 12th Legislative Assembly opened today with the members taking oath amidst bonhomie, forgetting the acrimony and the rivalry of the elections.

It was the formal beginning of Dharam Singh rule in the State as he occupied the designated seat for the Chief Minister for the first time. It was for the first time that Ministers belonging to a coalition of parties sat on the Treasury Benches ending the long era of single party governance. The divergence in attitudes and beliefs was to the fore when the Chief Minister subscribed to the oath as a member in the name of God while the Deputy Chief Minister, Siddaramaiah, solemnly affirmed in the name of Truth.

The Leader of the Opposition B.S.Y ediyurappa took the oath in the name of God, but the Minister for Water Resources, M. Mallikarjun Kharge, through affirmation.

Some of the members took liberties with the form of oath or affirmation laid down in the Third Schedule of the Constitution. While an overwhelming number of members preferred Kannada for subscribing to the oath and swore in the name of God, a few preferred English, Sanskrit, and even Marathi.

The first to take the oath today was the Chief Minister followed by the Leader of the Opposition. They were followed by the Deputy Chief Minister, the Water Resources Minister, and other Ministers. The former Chief Minister, S.M. Krishna, who has had the longest connection with the House followed suit. He entered the House in 1962 as a member of the Praja Socialist Party. Mr. Krishna sat for a while in the second row of the Treasury Benches behind the Chief Minister and left the House.

The Kannada Chaluvaligar member, Vatal Nagaraj, who has been elected to the House for the fifth time from Chamarajanagar, was at his vociferous best despite five years of layoff to register his protest whenever someone departed from Kannada. He had lost the election in 1999. Two of the independents who had been elected from Belgaum district as rebels of the Maharashtra Ekikaran Samithi attended the House sporting saffron turbans and took oath in Marathi amidst protests from Mr. Nagaraj.

The members, who supported Mr. Nagaraj by thumping their desks, were silent when Gangadhar Narayan Bhat of Karwar constituency took his oath in Sanskrit. K.M. Krishnamurthy (Janata Dal-Secular) elected from Kadur supported Mr. Bhat and advised Mr. Nagaraj that he should not oppose Sanskrit language as it was the mother of all languages. Mr. Gaviyappa, who has been elected as an independent from Hospet, took his oath in English, but Mr. Nagaraj did not raise his voice against it.

The Chief Minister, Dharam Singh, being greeted by the Leader of the BJP Legislature Party, B.S. Yediyurappa, while the Deputy Chief Minister, Siddaramaiah, looks on. — Photos: K. Bhagya Prakash

Earlier, he had objected to S. Rajendran of the Republican Party of India, who has been elected for the second time from Kolar Gold Fields, taking the oath in English. The Kannada Chaluvali leader felt that at least those who knew Kannada should use that language as a respect to the State, where they were living.

The MES rebel member, Digambar Rao Yashvanthrao Patil, sporting a saffron turban stopped near Mr. Nagaraj to greet him while returning to his seat, next to his Marathi-speaking colleague, Tinaikar, much to the amusement of the House. Mr. Nagaraj's plea to the pro tem Speaker, R.V. Deshpande, to advise the members to take oath in Kannada was not heeded. Instead, Mr. Deshpande said that the members were free to take oath in any language allowed by the Constitution.

There were members who swore in the name of their family deity or savants of their choice and some others showed their filial gratitude to their parents. Mahima Patel (JD-S), son of the former Chief Minister, J.H. Patel, swore in the name of his parents.

H. Anjaneya, who has been elected as a Janata Dal (U) member from Bharamasagar (reserved), displayed his allegiance to Vishwaguru Basavanna. Two Muslim members, Jabbarkhan Honnali of Hubli and Iqbal Ansari took their oath in Kannada in the name of Allah, while D.N. Jeevaraj (BJP) elected from Sringeri in the name of Sharadamba, the presiding deity of the Sringeri Sharada Peetha.

Similarly, S.M. Krishnaiah Setty of Malur and K.Krishna Murthy took oath in the name of Tirupati Thimmappa and Mahatma Gandhi, Jagajyoti Basaveswara and B.R. Ambedkar and Lalaji R. Mendon of Kapu showed his allegiance to Lord Lakshmi Narayana.

Interestingly, all the three Kumara Swamys in the new House - H.K. Kumara Swamy of Belur, H.D. Kumaraswamy of Ramanagaram and M.P. Kumara Swamy of Mudigere — were absent when their names were called.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Karnataka