Karnataka Legislative Council Chairman Basavaraj Horatti resigns
Horatti said he resigned after being told the Congress would move a no-confidence motion against him, while the ruling party cited "political realities."
PTI
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Elections for the Council Chairman and Deputy Chairman are scheduled for 14 August (PTI)
Bengaluru, 7 August
Karnataka Legislative Council Chairman Basavaraj Horatti resigned on Friday, claiming that he was asked to resign by the Congress dispensation.
Speaking to reporters later, Horatti said the Congress leaders told him that they would move a no-confidence motion against him.
Before resigning, Horatti met Shivakumar and Congress state president B K Hariprasad, who is also an MLC, and said he would resign.
In his resignation letter, he wrote that he was resigning ‘voluntarily’.
"I have already submitted my resignation and the matter is over now," he said.
He also admitted that there was pressure on him to resign.
Horatti, who was previously in Janata Dal (Secular), had joined the BJP on May 18, 2022, a year before Congress came to power in Karnataka.
The Congress government led by D K Shivakumar mounted pressure on him to resign ahead of the Legislative Session starting from August 13.
After the resignation was submitted, Shivakumar told reporters that he had a meeting with Horatti, explaining to him the ‘political realities’.
“He (Horatti) himself has very respectfully tendered his resignation today, and it has been accepted,” Shivakumar said.
The chief minister added that he has requested him to continue as chairman until a new chairman is elected.
"On August 14, there will be an election for the Chairman of the Council. There will also be an election for the Deputy Chairman, and he (Horatti) will act as the pro-tem Chairman. After the Deputy Chairman is elected, we will keep the process of electing the Council Chairman on the same evening," Shivakumar said.
The Opposition BJP came down heavily on the Congress government on the issue.
Leader of Opposition in the Karnataka Assembly R Ashoka alleged, "Goondaism is going on. The chief minister himself took everyone to the Chairman’s chamber, and forced him to resign. Kept him there for nearly an hour and pressurised him. This is a disgrace to the Karnataka Legislative Council. No Chairman had ever faced such humiliation".
He also claimed that the Congress government showed disrespect to the Constitution by acting against it.
According to the BJP leader, Horatti had already announced that on August 14, he would come to the House, thank everyone there, and then submit his resignation.
"But look at the way they suddenly barged in and did this (took Horatti’s resignation)," Ashoka charged.
BJP MP and former Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai too hit out at the Congress for removing Horatti.
"The way the Congress government acted to remove Basavaraj Horatti—who holds the distinction of being the most senior Legislative Council member in the country—from the post of Chairman does not conform to any healthy traditions," Bommai said in a statement.
He said this was an insult to the dignity of the Chairman’s position and the Constitution, and will remain "a bad precedent and a black mark in the history of the Karnataka Legislative Council".
Bommai noted that Horatti has rendered exemplary service continuously for 46 years as a Legislative Council member, minister, and Chairman.
"He is known for rising above party lines to practice issue-based politics. However, calling him to the chief minister's residence, pressuring him to resign right inside the Vidhana Soudha, and accepting and announcing his resignation within just five minutes displays the government's ill intentions," he said.
The BJP MP said the entire process violated all healthy conventions, dishonoured the Chairman's position, and disrespected the Constitution.
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