Speaker Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri pulls up ministers, officials for skipping Assembly

It was a no-show by several ministers and officials in the Legislative Assembly on Thursday, prompting Speaker Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri to reprimand them for being absent from the session.

“Members in the House must hold themselves individually accountable for being present in the session. Otherwise, we are failing in the eyes of the public,” Kageri remarked.

While ministers such as Jagadish Shettar and V Somanna had taken prior permission, others were briefly present before stepping out. Kageri asked all the ministers to ensure that they attended the session in full strength unless there was an emergency.

Only Deputy Chief Minister Govind Karjol was seated, leaving the treasury benches mostly empty when MLAs Basavaraj Daddal and others were raising development issues.

Daddal was irked that most of the ministers and officials had already left the House. “To whom am I addressing if the ruling party leaders have left?” he said. JD(S) leader Bandeppa Kashempur, too, expressed displeasure that there was no one to hear what was being said.

In a sarcastic remark, Leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah asked the Speaker to adjourn the House sine die. “Let’s go for a trip instead,” he said, adding that even the government chief whip was absent.

Former Speaker K R Ramesh Kumar said many members come, sign the attendance register and go away, without taking part in the session.

“Earlier, to be a Cabinet minister, one required experience. Now, there is no such requirement. No one goes to the library or learns about the Constitution,” he lamented. “Why should MLAs contest elections if they are not interested in attending the session?”

BJP legislator Basanagouda Patil Yatnal, who has been critical of the Yediyurappa administration, also complained against the empty treasury benches. The behaviour of some MLAs changes after they become ministers, he said. “Once they become ministers, they stop coming to the House,” Yatnal added.