Karnataka - Bangalore

Budget: Congress to continue protest

Staff Reporter

BANGALORE: Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly N. Dharam Singh, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president M. Mallikarjun Kharge and the former Speaker K.R. Ramesh Kumar on Saturday declared that they would pursue their protest in the Assembly against the "unconstitutional manner" in which Deputy Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa got his Budget approved along with the additional proposals in the legislature.

They told presspersons that any proposal involving an expenditure of over Rs. 5 crore should have been approved in the Cabinet.

But, the 56 additional proposals that Mr. Yediyurappa announced at the end did not have the Cabinet approval and were therefore unconstitutional.

`Breach of privilege'

More than that, it was caste-based and divisive in nature as Mr. Yediyurappa wanted to cater to the needs of his BJP vote bank, they added. It amounted to the breach of privilege and contempt of the Assembly. Mr. Kharge said Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy was silent when he was asked whether the Cabinet had approved the 56 proposals. The Janata Dal (S), he said, had been transformed into Janata Dal (Saffron).

Terming the entire Budget and additional proposals as part of the BJP agenda, they said it was working under the advice of the Rashtreeya Swayamsevak Sangh and Vishwa Hindu Parishad with a design to divide society.

Mr. Kharge took exception to Mr.Yediyurappa`s threat that he would file a defamation suit against the former Planning Commission member L.C. Jain and attacking him in singular smacked of arrogance and was not in the interest of the people.

On the selection of a candidate for the election to the post of the Chairman of the Legislative Council as ordered by the Governor, Mr. Kharge said it might be decided on April 5. The former Minister Kagodu Thimmappa, V.S. Ugrappa, Veeranna Mathikatti and Prakash Rathod, MLCs, were present.

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