Congress MLCs demand toilet on Legislative Council premises, privilege motion moved

Pointing out that there was no toilet near the Council premises, Congress leaders said it was causing inconvenience to everyone

A heated argument ensued in the Legislative Council on Monday, with Congress MLCs demanding toilet facilities in the Upper House premises.

One MLC moved a privilege motion against the Leader of the House and Social Welfare Minister Kota Srinivas Poojary for giving "false assurance".

"Poojary had earlier assured that a toilet would be constructed soon. But the government has not acted on it," Congress leader Pratapchandra Shetty said, claiming breach of privilege.

Pointing out that there was no toilet near the Council premises, Congress leaders said it was causing much inconvenience to everyone in attendance. They demanded that the canteen outside the Council, on the first floor of Vidhana Soudha, be relocated and that a toilet be constructed there.

However, Legislative Council chairperson Basavaraj Horrati dismissed the motion saying there was "no scope" for it under the Council regulations. He would call a meeting of both the ruling and the opposition leaders to sort out the issue, he assured.

'Privilege is an invisible honour'

Former JD(S) minister Sa Ra Mahesh's notice to move a privilege motion against an IAS officer was not accepted.

This also led to a brief debate on the nature of privileges enjoyed by the MLAs. Mahesh, targeting the IAS officer, listed out her "unilateral decisions" and alleged irregularities when she was the Mysuru deputy commissioner. "This is a violation of protocol and we will act against the official concerned. This isn't breach of privilege," Law Minister J C Madhuswamy said.

Former Speaker K R Ramesh Kumar said Mahesh was targeting someone who was not present in the House for self-defence. "It's not a good precedent to allow this," he said. "Privilege is an invisible honour." Madhuswamy concurred and said MLAs should not think of themselves as "super-human".

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