North Karnataka divides House

NT Correspondent

Belagavi: The Legislative Assembly witnessed noisy scenes after members cutting across party lines demanded permission to speak on the debate on North Karnataka development on Friday. The House was adjourned to restore normalcy.

After Question Hour and the Zero Hour discussion, Speaker Vishveshwar Hegde Kageri asked Veeranna Charantimath to initiate the debate on the subject. At this time, several BJP members stood up and sought a chance to speak. Leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah urged the Speaker to conduct the proceedings till the evening since he wanted more time to talk on problems of N-K region.

Kageri did not agree and said the House must be adjourned by the afternoon. When Siddaramaiah insisted that he must be given a chance to speak, BJP members said they too wanted to participate in the debate which resulted in an exchange of words.

The Speaker allowed Veeranna Charantimath and A.S. Patil Nadahalli to speak but there were noisy scenes following which the House was adjourned. Later, Siddaramaiah participated in the debate.