Karnataka - Gulbarga   

Kumaraswamy's Singapore trip inappropriate, declares Kharge

Special Correspondent

Says Chief Minister should not miss legislature session

M. Mallikarjun Kharge

GULBARGA: Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president M. Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday said Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy's decision to visit Singapore when the legislature session was under way was inappropriate and a grave insult to parliamentary democracy.

Mr. Kharge said the Chief Minister did not heed the advice given by Opposition party leaders in the Business Advisory Committee meeting that he should postpone his visit.

Convention

He said convention and precedent demanded that the Chief Minister and Ministers should compulsorily attend the legislature session and should not undertake any tour within or outside the state during the period. The Speaker of the Legislative Assembly should not have allowed Mr. Kumaraswamy to leave the country when the Assembly was in session.

Mr. Kharge said that the Chief Minister's visit to Singapore to invite foreign investment to the State could have waited till the end of the current session of the legislature.

To a question on the assurance given by the Chief Minister that a Bill would be introduced to categorise reservation for the different castes among the Scheduled Castes, Mr. Kharge said the move was unconstitutional and would go against a judgment of the Supreme Court, which had rejected a similar reservation provision introduced some time back in Andhra Pradesh.

`Complex issue'

The issue of categorised reservation among the Scheduled Castes was a complex issue, he said, adding that he did not want to comment on the proposal immediately. He would wait for the Bill to be moved in the Assembly before making any observation on the proposed move.

Mr. Kharge accused the Janata Dal (Secular)-Bharatiya Janata Party coalition government of diluting the importance of panchayati raj institutions by posting junior officers to key posts. This would affect administration and development projects taken up by these institutions. He pointed out that the decision to post senior IAS officers as chief executive officers of zilla panchayats was taken earlier to ensure better governance and discipline among lower-rung officials.

`Assurance not kept'

Mr. Kharge said the assurance given by Mr. Kumaraswamy and Deputy Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa that all transfers would be completed by May-end had been violated. Transfers were being made even now for "other considerations and to please disgruntled MLAs, he charged.

To a question, Mr. Kharge said the Congress had not sought the removal of Governor T.N. Chaturvedi when party leaders met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in Bangalore last week. Reports to that effect in a section of the press were speculative and far from the truth.

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