Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah
Credit: DH File Photo
The row over the governor’s joint address in Karnataka has triggered a political debate on what a governor can or cannot do. But the controversy has once again exposed that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his deputy, D K Shivakumar, are not on the same page.
Siddaramaiah, like many of his cabinet members, condemned Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot for not reading out the entire speech prepared by the state government and “walking out” of the House before the national anthem was played, alleging it was an “insult” to the Constitution.
Shivakumar, who is back from Davos after attending the World Economic Forum, opined that such things were “normal” in political life and said the governor could have read the speech and “omitted” only the portions that he was not in agreement with.
“I do not know what has happened. In a political system, all these issues will be there. The governor could have just read the speech and participated in the national anthem. If he was not interested in speaking about (criticism of VB G RAM G Act), he could just leave that out. There were a lot of options (for governor), and many precedents are there too. It was his duty to protect the national anthem. It is not only in Karnataka, but such incidents have also happened in other places, too,” Shivakumar said.
Last Thursday, Gehlot read only three lines from the government-approved address and walked out of the joint session of the state legislature, triggering protests by ruling Congress legislators.
Siddaramaiah said the governor had breached constitutional norms and undermined legislative authority by refusing to deliver the full address.