Speaker scoffs at legislators

Assembly Speaker K R Ramesh Kumar on Wednesday said legislators should know that he is the one to whom resignations should be submitted, referring indirectly to Congress MLA Anand Singh, who went to the Governor.

“If they (MLAs) have the time, let them go and give (their resignation) to Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi,” Kumar told reporters in his signature sarcasm, that was apparently directed at Singh.

Earlier this week, on Monday, confusion surrounded Singh’s resignation as he also went to Raj Bhavan to submit his resignation. “As MLAs, they should know to whom their resignation should be submitted and how. Despite knowing, if they do this, it may be some other motive, I don’t know. But if they don’t know at all, we should just accept it as our fate,” he said.

“Officially, I’m the one to receive those letters. And only one MLA has sent me his resignation letter,” Kumar said, maintaining that he was not in receipt of rebel Congress MLA Ramesh Jarkiholi’s resignation.

“This is my responsibility, not authority. It’s only in a dictatorship where authority thrives. In a democracy, there’s only responsibility. As Speaker, it is my responsibility to accept or reject the resignation. I'm confined to that,” he said.