Pandemonium in Karnataka Legislative Assembly as BJP stages protest

Bengaluru: The Karnataka Legislative Assembly witnessed pandemonium on Friday with opposition BJP MLAs staging a protest by climbing on the podium where the Speaker's chair is placed and throwing papers at Speaker U T Khader as the Assembly passed the budget.

Marshals had to forcefully evict the BJP MLAs who had surrounded the Speaker's chair.

The BJP, led by opposition leader R Ashoka, shouted slogans against the government for providing four per cent reservation to Muslims in public contracts.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and a few ministers furious over the BJP members surrounding the Speaker's chair asked the marshals to vacate them from there.

Amid the chaos, the Assembly passed the budget and the bills to increase the salaries, pensions and allowance of MLAs, ministers and the CM.

Earlier, the BJP was protesting from the well of the house against an alleged attempt to "honey trap" a minister and demanded a judicial probe into it even as the chief minister read out his reply to the budget discussion.