Bommai: It’s a black day, Cong govt acting like a dictator

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: “It is a black day and the murder of democracy. The ruling Congress Party is behaving like a dictator by misusing the Speaker’s post and suspending ten legislators”, said former Chief Minister and BJP leader Basavaraj Bommai.

He claimed the Congress Government misused state IAS officers for its party programme held in the state capital on July 17 & 18 and made them behave like ‘clerks’ in front of those who don’t deserve protocol privilege.

The IAS officers were made personal assistants of politicians and stood like guards in front of their rooms, he alleged.

Bommai also said the presiding officer of the Legislative Assembly is behaving like a puppet in the hands of the ruling party, and held the proceedings despite protests and dharna by opposition members without even providing a lunch break.

While the Congress is running a ‘Hitler-like government,’ the Speaker is acting as per the government’s wish. The former CM said that previously, Congress leader, D.K.Shivakumar had torn papers and one of the Congers members had broken the Speaker’s mike in the Assembly.

The incumbent CM Siddaramaiah, when he was Opposition Leader had kicked one of the doors of the Assembly.

The same people were trying to snatch the rights of opposition parties, he claimed. On Congress members’ charges that the BJP has insulted the Deputy Speaker, Bommai said it was the ruling party that insulted the Deputy Speaker.

HDK slams suspension of 10 BJP MLAs from House

Former CM and Janata Dal (Secular) Floor Leader H.D. Kumaraswamy has claimed that the Speaker suspended ten BJP legislators purposefully and did it on the ‘instigation’ of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.

On Congress legislators giving a caste angle to the entire episode, Kumaraswamy said they were making such statements only to win the compassion of Dalits as Deputy Speaker, Rudrappa Lamani is a dalit. The post of Speaker has nothing to do with caste, color, religion, or community, he asserted.

“It was not correct on the part of the state government to deploy a set of IAS officers, by keeping aside the standard protocol for politicians, just because leaders from other states came for the two-day conclave in Bengaluru.

The ruling party has misused IAS officers including those of the rank of principal secretaries. We, the JD(S) and BJP, were ready for a discussion on this subject but the Congress did not allow it assuming that whatever they do is correct.

When we were in power, IAS officers were not misused to serve VVIPs. Even for my swearing-in-ceremony in 2018, bureaucrats were not used to receive or send off guests”, Kumaraswamy claimed.