Council proceedings resume after three days of disruption

After being repeatedly disrupted for three consecutive days over issues ranging from the Governor’s address and alleged disrespect to the national anthem to demands for the resignation of the Excise Minister, among others, normalcy finally returned to the Legislative Council on Friday, with proceedings commencing.

Chairman Basavaraj Horatti, asserting the authority of the Chair, succeeded in defusing tensions between the Treasury and Opposition benches through a series of conciliatory meetings.

As the House assembled on Friday, Leader of the Opposition Chalavadi Narayanaswamy said the BJP accepted the ruling given by the Chairman on Thursday regarding the incidents in the House. He said the remarks made by Mr. Hariprasad had caused deep hurt and reiterated the Opposition’s demand for his suspension, but added that the party had chosen to relent solely in the interest of ensuring that the House functioned.

Senior member A.H. Vishwanath intervened, advising that there was little purpose in prolonging the matter and that intemperate remarks made in the heat of the moment need not be escalated further.

Responding to the debate, the Chairman said certain incidents that should not have occurred had indeed taken place. “Let us put it behind us and move forward,” he said. Referring to public and media scrutiny of the House, he said, “Differences arise in every household, but they are resolved through discussion. Let us conduct ourselves in the same spirit here.”

Urging members to abide by his ruling and not to exert pressure on the Chair, Mr. Horatti declared the matter closed and took up the motion of thanks to the Governor’s address. He said stern action would be initiated if similar incidents occurred in future.