Bengaluru: Karnataka governor Vajubhai Rudabhai Vala was forced to cut short his joint address to the state Assembly at the start of the 10-day budget session on Wednesday amid protests from BJP MLAs who claimed that the coalition government does not have sufficient numbers to run the government. Vala had to wrap up his 22-page long speech in just two pages.
The joint session started at 11 am and was followed by the governor’s speech. But the BJP legislators started creating a ruckus by shouting slogans against the government as soon as Vala began his address. The MLAs then entered the well of the house and demanded that the governor discontinue his speech. "You are made to read lies, so please don't read them," the BJP MLAs said and intensified their sloganeering when they realised the governor wasn’t stopping his speech.
"We don't want a bundle of lies to be read by you honourable governor. Down, down. The government that has lost majority and trust," the BJP leaders were seen shouting.
Vala was left with no option but to end his speech midway. The House was adjourned till Thursday. Some legislators said that it is the first time in the history of Karnataka Assembly that the opposition did not allow the governor to speak.
Addressing the media later in the day, BJP's Karnataka chief B S Yeddyurappa said the government does not have the majority and chief minister HD Kumaraswamy has no ethics to continue in office.
“HD Kumaraswamy’s government made governor Vajubhai Vala tell lies in the House. Nine Congress legislators were absent in the session and many are being pressurised to stay with the Congress. This is illegal. It shows that the government has fallen short of majority. That’s why we protested and quit the session,” Yeddyurappa said.
Former deputy chief minister and BJP leader R Ashok echoed a similar sentiment, accusing HD Kumaraswamy of running an unstable government. “Kumaraswamy had said that he is working like a clerk in this government. That shows how stable his government is. If they have a little morality left in them, they should resign immediately,” R Ashok said.
In response, the Congress leaders challenged the BJP to move No Confidence Motion against the government and prove the allegations. “The Opposition is accusing us of not having sufficient number of MLAs. If so, we challenge you to move no confidence motion against us. Who is stopping you? You are not doing it because you know that the government is stable,” said KJ George, minister of industries.
Kumaraswamy will be presenting his second budget on Friday and the opposition is likely to boycott it.
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