Houses adjourned after paying tributes to departed

The opening day of the Winter session of the legislature in Belagavi was adjourned for the day on Monday, with members cutting across party lines paying tributes to former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and other departed leaders.

Usually, the Houses are adjourned for the day after obituary reference only on the demise of a sitting member during the intervening period of the legislature.

The Houses decided that no official business be conducted as a tribute to the former prime minister Vajpayee and as a mark of respect to the great statesman that he was.

Both Houses also paid rich tributes to former union ministers C K Jaffer Sharief, Ananth Kumar, actor-turned-politician Ambareesh who passed away recently.

Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy said Vajpayee had a special place in his heart for the people of Karnataka and always showered love and benevolence on them.

BJP state president B S Yeddyurappa said the country, especially the BJP, had been orphaned due to the demise of Vajpayee. He said Ananth Kumar was one of his closest friends and he was still not in a position to imagine the BJP without the late union minister.

Water Resources Minister D K Shivakumar recalled how he was instrumental in getting Ambareesh and Sumalatha married in 1992. He also recollected that he had almost assaulted Sharief on the sidelines of a party convention years back. “He (Sharief) never took offence and always treated me as a son” he added.

In the Legislative Council, pro-tem chairperson Basavaraj Horatti reluctantly adjourned the House, even as some members objected to doing so.

“Personally, I believe we should do more work, to pay respects to the departed, especially when we spend crores of rupees to run the House and there are issues pertaining to north Karnataka to be discussed,” he said, before adjourning the House.