The Hindu : Front Page : Assembly adjourned amidst chaos

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Saturday, Jul 15, 2006

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Assembly adjourned amidst chaos

Special Correspondent

Speaker refuses permission to Siddaramaiah to make a statement before quitting

BANGALORE: The former Deputy Chief Minister Siddaramaiah put off his resignation from the Legislative Assembly to Monday after Speaker Krishna disallowed him to make a statement in the House.

The Speaker's ruling led to uproarious scenes in the House with Mr. Siddaramaiah and his eight associates staging a dharna. The Congress members, led by Leader of the Opposition N. Dharam Singh and M. Mallikarjun Kharge, joined them.

The Speaker adjourned the House for an hour. But when Mr. Siddaramaiah and others continued with their demand, the Speaker adjourned the House till Monday. The former Minister P.G.R. Sindhia (Janata Dal-Secular) supported Mr. Siddaramaiah.

Mr. Siddaramaiah, who came to the House with his resignation letter prepared in the prescribed format, said he would quit only after making a statement in the Assembly. His argument was that having been the Deputy Chief Minister and a member for four terms, he should be allowed to state whey he was resigning. The Speaker said there was no precedent for a member to make a statement prior to his resignation. Nor was there any need to set a precedent now. The rules were clear and it was for the member to submit his resignation in the prescribed format to his office. When he sought Speaker's permission to make his statement, Minister for Home and Law and Parliamentary Affairs M.P. Prakash pleaded with the Chair to reject the plea.

Earlier, Mr. Siddaramaiah told presspersons that he was quitting the Assembly because he was elected on the Janata Dal (Secular) ticket. He had walked out of the party since it went against its own ideals and aligned with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Mr. Siddaramaiah said he would call on the Congress leaders in New Delhi on July 17. Congress president Sonia Gandhi would be requested to attend a rally in Bangalore in August when he would formally enter that party, he said. Mr. Siddaramaiah said he was joining the Congress to fight the H.D. Kumaraswamy Government's policies and programmes.

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