Former Minister M C Nanaiah on Tuesday said that there is no provision in law to convene the session of the Legislative Council following the dissolution of the Assembly.

Addressing a press conference in Bangalore, Mr Nanaiah said, the power of the Governor to convene the session of the Legislature under Article 174 itself has been kept under suspension.

Hence, Council Chairman  Prof  B K Chandrashekar’s view in favour of convening session of the House cannot be accepted.

“It is for the first time I have come across a plea made to convene a session of the Council in the absence of an elected government,” Mr Nanaiah ridiculed.

Referring to the controversy over the post of Leader of the Opposition in the Council, Mr Nanaiah said, even the Floor Leader of the House (D H Shankaramurthy) should also be allowed to continue in the post if the Leader of the Opposition can continue in the post despite dissolution of the Assembly.

Mr Nanaiah claimed that in the absence of an Assembly, the Council would be in the state of “suspended animation” and meetings of the House Committees cannot be convened.

Referring to a decision of the Rajya Sabha which permitted Leader of the Opposition to continue in the post after dissolution of Lok Sabha, he said rules and procedure of Parliament and State Legislature differ and the certain decisions of the Rajya Sabha cannot be applied to the Legislative Councils.