Voting is the only uniform right: Sharath Bachegowda

Voting is the only right that has been distributed equally among citizens compared with all other rights espoused in the Constitution, Hoskote legislator Sharath Bachegowda said on Friday.

“We often say voters themselves are bad. But then, voting is the only right we have distributed uniformly. No other right espoused in the Constitution - education, healthcare and so on - has been given uniformly,” Bachegowda, an Independent MLA, said in his first major speech in the Assembly during a special discussion on the Constitution.

“In a liberal democracy, Ambedkar’s message was equal rights. But we need to be careful about this,” he said. “But there is centralization of power, which is as dangerous as centralization of money. Our wealth gap, for instance, is constantly increasing,” he said.

Women’s reservation

Former JD(S) minister H D Revanna, during his speech on the Constitution, accused the BJP and the Congress of not pushing for women’s reservation in the Lok Sabha and all state assemblies.

“It’s been 24 years since H D Deve Gowda (the then PM) introduced the Women’s Reservation Bill. But both national parties are not doing anything to take it up,”
he said.

Law Minister J C Madhuswamy intervened and quipped, “Revanna, you speak of women’s reservation. But a woman member in Hassan has complained that she’s not allowed to hold a zilla panchayat meeting for three months. Please allow that meeting to happen.” Revanna, who represents Holenarsipura in Hassan, is believed to wield clout in the district, whose minister in-charge is Madhuswamy.