Bangalore: Peeved by what it termed the "casual attitude" of the Government, the entire Opposition boycotted the afternoon proceedings of the Legislative Assembly on Tuesday.

The absence of Ministers during the post-lunch session irked the Opposition. The House was to begin a discussion on the State Budget, with Leader of the Opposition N. Dharam Singh initiating it.

But for the Ministers C. Chennigappa and Govind Karjol, the Treasury benches were empty when the House reassembled after the lunch recess.

The Speaker, Krishna, also admonished the Treasury benches and requested the Opposition to wait a while, but they staged a walkout.

The Speaker then adjourned the House for 10 minutes. It was only later that Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy and Deputy Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa arrived.

Speaking to presspersons later, Mr. Dharam Singh said that in a democratic set-up the Chief Minister or the Deputy Chief Minister has to be present in the House when the Leader of the Opposition speaks on the budget. "When the budget was presented, we were in full strength in the House. If the presentation of the budget has sanctity, so do the views of the Opposition."

He pointed out that not just Ministers, but also the Chief Secretary and the Finance Secretary were absent from the officers' gallery.

The former Ministers M. Mallikarjun Kharge and R.V. Deshpande also took exception to the "lackadaisical approach" of the Ministers and said they will participate in Wednesday's proceedings.

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