The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Take active part in House proceedings, MLAs told

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Take active part in House proceedings, MLAs told

Special Correspondent

Kharge wants MLAs to work for success of party candidates in Council polls

Bangalore: Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader M. Mallikarjun Kharge has advised party MLAs to attend the House regularly and take active part in the proceedings.

Chairing the CLP meet here on Thursday, he said the MLAs should be thorough with the subject and they should use the knowledge to further the interests of the people.

Mr. Kharge recalled an occasion when the Congress lost an opportunity to get the roster system implemented in the panchayat raj institutions as it fell short by one vote.

The Janata Party government, headed by Ramakrishna Hegde, had tabled the Karnataka Panchayat Raj Bill in the Assembly for creating zilla, taluk and mandal panchayats.

Amendment

Finding that there was no provision in the Bill for reservation of posts to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, Mr. Kharge said he moved an amendment to it. But it fell through by one vote.

This was because, Mr. Kharge said, one Congress MLA, who was in the House that day, had gone out for some reason when the voting was taken up.

According to the business rules of the House, members are supposed to occupy their seats before the voting is taken up, and during that time, no one, including the members, is allowed to enter the House.

The Congress leader said that the Scheduled Castes had to wait till the Rajiv Gandhi government brought in a Central legislation on the panchayat raj institutions, where the roster system was introduced.

Therefore, he said, it was always better that the MLAs, particularly those of the Opposition, were present in the House.

The CLP leader wanted the MLAs to work for the success of the party candidates contesting the Legislative Council elections from the graduates and teachers constituencies.

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