Houses drown in chaos as BJP disrupts proceedings

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The second day of the budget too was a complete washout as the Opposition BJP, charging that the coalition government lacked majority, disrupted proceedings of both Houses on Thursday.

The Assembly and the Council were adjourned without conducting any official business.

Even as the Assembly session began, the BJP legislators trooped into the Well of the House shouting slogans against the coalition, terming it a ‘minority’ government. A dozen MLAs, including the four Congress rebels, made themselves scarce for the second consecutive day.

Emboldened by the previous day’s outcome which saw Governor Vajubhai Vala exiting without even completing his address to the House, the BJP MLAs primarily targeted Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy by shouting slogans like, 'Step down CM,' 'Go back CM’, 'No unity, no majority,' 'One state, two CMs' and 'Down down government'.

Witnessing the chaotic scene, Speaker K R Ramesh Kumar, termed the ruckus as the “new chapter in Parliamentary democracy”. As the BJP lawmakers showed no signs of ending their protest, Kumar adjourned the House for 10 minutes.

When the House reconvened, the ruling party MLAs countered the opposition members with slogans like 'Blue film BJP' and 'Down down BJP'.

The coalition ministers also challenged the BJP to move a no confidence motion against the government.

Amid the din, the Speaker asked Congress MLA S T Somashekar to move the motion of thanks to the Governor for his address. The MLA could not initiate the discussion owing to the uproar in the House. This prompted the Speaker to adjourn the House till Friday.

Similar chaos prevailed in the Council, which was adjourned thrice with no official business. When it assembled at 10.47 am, members of the BJP jumped into the Well of the House, holding placards against the Congress-JD(S) coalition with the words 'corruption,' 'transfer racket,' sand mafia and so on.

Legislative Council chairman Prathap Chandra Shetty adjourned the House for an hour. When it reconvened, BJP continued its protest.

When Leader of the Opposition Kota Srinivas Poojary explained to the cairman that the BJP members were protesting because the government lacked majority, the latter said, "If so, there's a separate process for that. You can’t disrupt the proceedings like this." The BJP continued its protest the third time, forcing Shetty to adjourn the House till Friday.