Bangalore: The functioning of both the Houses of legislature was paralysed for the second day on Tuesday with the main Opposition, the Congress, sticking to its demand that Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy make a statement identifying the two persons — a former minister and a journalist — who had attempted to "purchase" him in connection with the matter relating to the Bangalore-Mysore Infrastructure Corridor Project.

In the Assembly, Leader of the Opposition Dharam Singh, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president Mallikarjun Kharge and former Minister R.V. Deshpande led the dharna by the Congress members in the well of the House when it assembled for the day.

They raised slogans against Speaker Krishna and the Chief Minister with Mr. Dharam Singh, in the din, accusing the Speaker of being biased. The appeals of the Speaker requesting the members to resume their seats went in vain.

The Chief Minister was conspicuous by his absence. However, he participated in several rounds of discussions in the Speaker's chambers to resolve the issue. The Congress was all the more upset as a meeting called at 11 a.m. to resolve the issue did not take place. The Opposition leaders felt that they were being taken for granted by the Government.

The House was adjourned thrice before the final adjournment for the day.

In the Legislative Council, the Opposition did not relent on its demand for an adjournment motion to discuss the BMIC project, and stalled the proceedings by staging a dharna in the well of the House. When the House assembled at 12.45 p.m., Leader of the Opposition H.K. Patil insisted that the issue of the Chief Minister being offered a "bribe" was a serious one and deserved to be discussed under an adjournment motion.

Acting Chairman Sachinanda Khot, who had reserved his ruling on the opposition demand for an adjournment motion on Monday, allowed the matter to be discussed under Rule 68. But the Congress members were not happy with this ruling, and refused to end the dharna.

While former chairman V.R. Sudarshan said there have been precedents when the Chair had reconsidered its ruling pertaining to an adjournment motion, M.P. Nadagouda and Basavaraj Bommai (Janata Dal-United) urged the Congress to allow the discussion to begin, as the objective of the rules was to facilitate matters of public importance.

The House was adjourned for an hour at 2 p.m., but it re-assembled only at 5.40 p.m. to be adjourned for the day, without an end to the stalemate.

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