Karnataka - Hubli-Dharwad   

Ruckus over BJP councillor's remarks against Husain

HUBLI: A Bharatiya Janata Party councillor's ‘unparliamentary' remark against M.F. Husain led to noisy scenes at the monthly meeting of the Hubli-Dharwad Municipal Corporation here on Wednesday. Following this, the meeting was adjourned indefinitely.

BJP councillor Shivanand Muttannavar, who had been reprimanded on earlier occasions for “loose talk” by his partymen, found himself in the eye of a storm again for allegedly using “offensive language”.

As soon as the meeting began, the council secretary moved a condolence motion on Husain and Gandhia Mallappa Niduvani, who died recently.

Although the former Mayor Venkatesh Mestri also opposed the condolence motion along with Mr. Muttannavar, floor leader Viranna Savadi convinced them to keep quiet and said they could express their views later.

Soon after they observed silence in memory of the dead, Mr. Muttannavar rose up to speak.

Right from the start his language was abusive, and the Opposition councillors took objection to it. They demanded an apology and asked him to take back his words. Leader of the Opposition Deepak Chinchore (Congress), Janata Dal (Secular) councillors Vijayalaxmi Luthimath and Altaf Kittur, and others urged the Mayor to immediately send Mr. Muttannavar out of the hall. In the commotion that followed, the Mayor adjourned the meeting for 10 minutes.

When the meeting resumed, the Opposition councillors rushed to the well of the House and demanded suspension of Mr. Muttannavar. They would also submit a memorandum to the City Police Commissioner seeking criminal action against Mr. Muttannavar.

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