K'taka BJP MLAs stage walkout from Assembly for not allowing discussion on Waqf row

Belagavi (Karnataka), Dec 13 (IANS) Karnataka BJP MLAs staged a walkout from the Legislative Assembly on Friday accusing Speaker U.T. Khader of not allowing the party to raise the Waqf Board issue. 

The members led by Leader of Opposition (LoP) R. Ashoka staged the walkout when the Congress MLAs demanded that the charges of alleged honey trapping and infecting opponents with HIV against BJP MLA N. Munirathna should be discussed in the House.

After the walkout, LoP Ashoka and state BJP President B.Y. Vijayendra addressed the media together at the Suvarna Vidhana Soudha.

Ashoka said the Speaker has been acting unilaterally and one-sided. "On Monday I had given a request to him for raising the issue of Waqf row in the Assembly. Normally, the time would be granted after the question and answer session. Deliberately, the state government is not allowing the discussion," he said.

"The involvement of frontline leaders of the ruling Congress party in this is evident. Four days have passed after the submission in this regard. We want to raise the issues of the Waqf row, maternal deaths, deaths of newborn babies, Rs 700 crore excise scam, north Karnataka development issue. Whenever the strong demand is made, the House is adjourned," Ashoka said.

The ruling party MLAs also expressed outrage on the issue of not releasing the funds. "Speaker Khader has not been given the post of a minister. He is showing his anger during the Assembly session," he chided.

The Congress party leaders are quarrelling with the BJP in a planned manner, and in protest, the BJP MLAs walked out, Ashoka stated.

"On the other hand, the Speaker's words are not respected by the Congress members. The Speaker is also one-sided and dancing to the tunes of the ruling government. What message will this convey? The CM Siddaramaiah-led government has strategically conspired to take away the Constitutional rights of the opposition party to debate in the state legislature," Ashoka alleged.

"Following the Waqf row, farmers in the state are thrown on the streets, maternal deaths are reported and these issues need to be discussed in the session. In my 26-27 years of attending sessions, nothing of this sort has happened," Ashoka said.

State President Vijayendra stated the conduct of the Speaker is questionable. The ruling party is not showing any interest in discussing the Waqf row and maternal deaths.

"All rules regarding the conduct of the session are violated. We had met the Speaker in his chamber along with senior legislators and told him enough is enough. The due proceedings are over and a chance to raise the Waqf issue is not given. Instead, other matters are taken up," he stated.

When asked about the Congress trying to discuss BJP MLA Munirathna's honey-trapping case, Vijayendra stated the matter is before the court. "The MLA had gone to jail and came out, what are you going to discuss in the session about him? The Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has not come to the session for two days. An entire week of the winter session has passed. It is the murder of democracy. The Speaker had allowed discussion for half a day on the inauguration of a portrait of Anubhava Mantapa as if CM Siddaramaiah had built a monument. The opposition is not able to carry out its function," he stated.

The BJP has launched an agitation against the alleged listing of farmers' lands and properties of religious institutions as the property of the Waqf board in Karnataka. Following the backlash, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah announced that notices by the Waqf board to farmers and others would be withdrawn and land records corrected.