BJP-Cong deadlock on privilege motions paralyses Assembly

The Assembly proceedings got completely washed out on Wednesday as the fight between the ruling BJP and opposition Congress led to a deadlock, forcing Speaker Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri to repeatedly adjourn the House.

The Assembly commenced with members of the BJP demanding an apology from Congress' K R Ramesh Kumar for allegedly hurling an expletive against Medical Education Minister K Sudhakar on Tuesday. They also demanded that Kumar be suspended from the remainder of the budget session.

Kageri said he had received two privilege motions - one moved by Leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah and another by the BJP. Kageri decided to overlook the rules and take up the motions first and keep the question hour for later.

The BJP members were up in arms even as Kageri asked Siddaramaiah to begin speaking on his motion, because he moved it first.

"It looks like the BJP has the ominous motive of disrupting the proceedings, because they aren't respecting even the Speaker's word. If this is how things go, why convene the legislature session in the first place?" Siddaramaiah said.

The Congress has accused Sudhakar of making "derogatory" remarks against Kumar.

The din came at the cost of important business that was listed for the day: question hour, tabling of a Bill, discussion on the demand for grants (budget), brief discussion on matters of public importance and calling attention notices.

Even Gandhi won't win polls now: Ravi

The election system has been corrupted to an extent where even if Mahatma Gandhi were to contest today, he would not win, Kannada and Culture Minister C T Ravi said in the Legislative Council.

"Today, only Gandhi's note will win. Even Gandhi will not win," he said.

JD(S) member K T Srikante Gowda, who was delivering his speech as part of the Constitution debate, said corruption in elections had seeped to the grassroots level. "Even voters are corrupt," he quipped. "All wings of the government have become polluted. This is a serious problem that needs to be rectified."