Congress legislators, including Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, staging a protest against the alleged highhandednessย of Central agencies such as the Enforcement Directorate, on the Vidhana Soudha premises in Bengaluru on Tuesday.
| Photo Credit: ANI
The Karnataka police booking a case against two ED officials following a complaint by a Social Welfare Department official, that he was being forced to name key leaders such as Chief Minister Siddaramaiah related to irregularities in the Maharshi Valmiki Scheduled Tribes Development Corporation, created a flutter in the Legislative Assembly on Tuesday triggering a heated exchange of words between the ruling and the Opposition parties.
The issue came up as Congress member K.M. Shivalinge Gowda, who sought permission to raise the issue under a censuring clause, made preliminary submissions amid reservations by the Opposition members.
Referring to Social Welfare Department official B. Kallesh, who is also ex-officio director of the corporation, filing a police complaint on the ED allegedly harassing him, Mr. Gowda remarked that the ED was being misused to sully the image of the Chief Minister and his government. โThe ED is trying to murder democracy,โ he said.
This triggered an angry reaction from BJP members who insisted that the allegations of Kallesh, who himself is an accused in the irregularities case, should not be taken at face value. Congress members, including Ministers, replied sharply with RDPR Minister Priyank Kharge saying that the complaint by Kallesh had clearly exposed the intention of the ED.
Speaker U.T. Khader said he would allow Mr. Gowda to initiate a debate on the issue under a non-censuring clause during the course of the legislature session.
Chairman rejects discussion
Meanwhile, the Legislative Council witnessed noisy scenes when Congress members sought permission to discuss the same issue. When BJP members objected to the ruling partyโs proposal to discuss the subject, chairman Basavaraj Horatti rejected the discussion stating that the matter was โnot of public interestโ.ย
Congress member U.B. Venkatesh said the Council should adopt a resolution to boycott the ED.ย Objecting to this, BJP members questioned how a constitutional body such as the ED can be boycotted. โYou are setting a wrong precedent. Such a resolution will only help scamsters to go scot free,โ BJP member C.T. Ravi.
Meanwhile, before the commencement of the legislature session on Tuesday, Congress MLAs and Ministers staged a protest near the Mahatma Gandhi statue on the Vidhana Soudha premises against the alleged highhandedness of the ED.
