Karnataka Assembly adjourned for 15 minutes

The Karnataka Assembly has been adjourned for 15 minutes after Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy brought up poaching of legislators by the Opposition BJP, which led to a din.

The Assembly session on Tuesday commenced with BJP members urging Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar to reconsider his decision to seek a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to look into a controversial audio clip that makes bribery charges against him. The BJP has demanded a probe by a House Committee or a judicial inquiry.

“The question here is not whether it has to be SIT or a judicial inquiry. When did MLAs go on sale in this state? They (BJP) say they don’t have confidence in me and my government. But in Mumbai...” Kumaraswamy said, at which point BJP legislators accused him of deviating from the topic. Kumaraswamy was about to refer to the BJP’s alleged attempts to keep ruling MLAs holed up in Mumbai in a bid to topple the government.

The audio clip in question was released by Kumaraswamy on February 8. It allegedly involves BJP state president BS Yeddyurappa and BJP legislator Shivanagouda Naik trying to lure Sharanagouda, son of JD(S) Gurmitkal MLA Naganagouda Kundkur. “Why does the son of my MLA get a call at 11.30 in the night? Because he was called for a meeting, I asked him to go,” Kumaraswamy said.

The CM also responded to an audio clip from 2014, in which he is heard demanding money from a JD(S) leader in exchange for a seat in the Legislative Council. “That incident happened within my party. I’m ready to discuss that. I won’t run scared. That happened at my house, in my party. Mine is a regional party. We pay income tax every year. It was about making someone in my party MLC. But why did you reach out to the son of my MLA,” Kumaraswamy asked the Opposition BJP.