Karnataka assembly proceedings disrupted for second day

Karnataka assembly proceedings were disrupted on Wednesday over the heated verbal exchanges between Minister K Sudhakar and former speaker K R Ramesh Kumar over disqualification of 17 MLAs last year with both the opposition and the treasury pushing for breach of privilege action.

Chaotic scenes and adjournments marked the proceedings, with both sides not ready to budge over the issue which had led to abrupt adjournment on Tuesday evening during a special discussion on the Constitution.

Sudhakar, a former Congress MLA, had made critical remarks against the decision of Kumar, as the then speaker, to disqualify 17 Congress-JD(S) MLAs under the anti-defection law, including him.

As the House met for the day in the morning, senior Minister K S Eshwarappa accused Ramesh Kumar, a Congress MLA, of using "expletive" during a debate on Tuesday evening and demanded his apology and suspension.

Sudhakar, against whom the expletive was allegedly used by Kumar, said, the words used were unpardonable and he should be heard, as he has given a notice.

Leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah accused Sudhakar of breaching Kumar's privilege by allegedly making derogatory remarks against him.

Intervening, Speaker Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri said he has received breach of privilege notice from both sides against Ramesh Kumar and Sudhakar and would take them up only after the question hour as per rules.

The day saw several adjournments as heated arguments broke out between both sides on the issue with each insisting on their demand.

As the chaos continued and his repeated attempts to conduct the proceedings failed, Speaker adjourned the House for the day.