Bengaluru city MLAs debate BBMP but others worried over rain loss

Bengaluru: The legislature session on Monday turned out to be an emotional affair for Bengaluru city legislators and a question of performing their duty for those not from Bengaluru.

Bengaluru legislators from the Congress and BJP, traded charges  against each other adding to the heat in the House. In the morning, the BJP tried with all its might to stall the introduction of the Karnataka Municipal Corporations Amendment Bill demanding that the state government should debate issues like crop loss due to the recent rain induced floods and  Kannadigas facing problems in Goa.

However, the Congress succeeded in introducing the bill with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah stating that the current session was convened exclusively to address the BBMP division.
After this, legislators other than those from the city came out of the House and spent most of their  time in the lobby. A senior legislator jocularly quipped that legislators other than those from Bengaluru will be “lobbyists” all day as they do not have anything to say on the bill.

After detailed arguments on the introduction of the bill, came the big fight between Vokkaliga titans H.D. Kumaraswamy and D.K. Shivakumar  over the setting up of a  joint House committee to look into irregularities in power purchase.  Mr Shivakumar  remarked, “We know what is the contribution of former Prime Minister, H.D. Deve Gowda and his family to this state.”

The last showdown of the day was between leader of the opposition Jagadish Shettar, Law and Parliamentary affair minister T.B. Jaychandra and Chief Minister, Siddaramaiah himself while seeking the passage of the controversial bill.

BBMP debate ups tempers in House

Several arguments were witnessed in the Legislative Assembly during the debate on The Karnataka Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Bill, 1985, including one between energy minister D K Shivakumar and JD (S) leader H D Kumaraswamy on Monday.

During the debate, forests minister Ramanath Rai lost his cool when BJP member Dr Ashwathnarayan asked whether he knew anything about Bengaluru. When Mr Kumaraswamy was about to conclude his speech, he said he was worried about the future of Bengaluru. At this juncture, Mr Shivakumar intervened and said it was Chief Minister S M Krishna who took the initiative to catalyze its growth into IT capital of India.

"We are not scared of elections. Just leave Bengaluru to us and we will ensure the future of Bengaluru," he said only to provoke the JD (S) leader to get on his feet and point out that it was his father Mr H D Deve Gowda who ought to be credited for Bengaluru's current status because he invited the Singapore government and the Tatas to build ITPL on the outskirts of the city. Besides, the foundation stone for Namma Metro project was unveiled when he led the JD(S)-BJP coalition government, he added.

Mr Kumaraswamy also alleged that encroachments on government land were being cleared now but innocent people were paying a price. "The government is not taking same action against land encroached by IAS officers and ministers," he charged triggering another bout of heated arguments between Mr Shivakumar and himself. Mr Shivakumar demanded Mr Kumaraswamy to produce documents in support of his allegation that ministers and IAS officers had encroached land.

When Mr Kumaraswamy raked up the issue of Shanthinagar Housing Co-operative Society and charged that Mr Shivakumar had fraudulently took over the society, depriving Dalits of land, Mr Shivakumar shot back "As the Chief Minister, you could not do anything and you can not do anything to me."