Priyank Kharge termed Governor Gehlot's refusal to deliver the state's address an insult to Karnataka's people. He also criticised the Governor for walking out before the national anthem was completed, calling the incident unfortunate.
Kharge: Governor's actions an 'insult' to state
Karnataka Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister Priyank Kharge on Thursday termed the refusal of Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot to deliver the customary address to the Assembly as an insult to the Assembly and to the people of the state. He also criticised the Governor for walking out before the national anthem was completed.
Speaking to reporters here, he said the speech was not "fiction" and claimed the content contained nothing against the Centre. According to him, the speech only carried facts. He blamed the governor for not choosing to speak the "people's language".
Kharge said, "It is unfortunate what stand the governor has taken and like I said before. The speech was not fiction; it had nothing against the centre governor. Only the facts were there, but the governor chose not to speak the people's language, and more importantly, he was in such a hurry that he didn't even wait for the national anthem to be completed."
BJP criticised for supporting Governor's stand
He also slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for allowing the Governor to take such a stand. Citing the previous incident involving the Tamil Nadu governor, he said, "Now, the entire BJP was commenting the day before on what happened with the Tamil Nadu governor, so what does this make the Governor, and what does the BJP have to say about it now?"
Kharge attacked the BJP MLAs in the Assembly for supporting the act and for not listening to what the governor has done. He termed the incident not only "unprecedented" but also "unfortunate".
He said, "And the entire BJP in the Assembly is supporting it; they are not even ready to listen to what the governor has done. It is not only unprecedented, but it's also very unfortunate."
Request to Speaker over national anthem 'insult'
Claiming Governor's action as an insult to the national anthem, Kharge said that there are processes and procedures in the assembly when there is an insult to the national anthem, for which he said that a request has been addressed to the Speaker, UT Khader Fareed, to provide the ruling.
He said, "See, insulting the national anthem has its own procedures. Since it occurred in the Assembly, we have requested that the Speaker issue a ruling. We'll see what he says."
CM terms move 'violation of Constitution', mulls SC appeal
Earlier in the day, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah strongly criticised Governor Gehlot for refusing to deliver the customary address to the Assembly, calling the move a "violation of the Constitution" and stating that the government is examining whether to approach the Supreme Court over the matter.
The Chief Minister's remarks came after the Governor walked out of the Assembly session, declining to read the address prepared by the Council of Ministers and instead delivering a speech drafted by himself.
Siddaramaiah said that the Governor's move violates Article 163 (a Council of Ministers, led by the Chief Minister, shall aid and advise the Governor, who must generally act on this advice except when exercising their specific discretionary powers) and Article 176 (the Governor must deliver a "Special Address" to the State Legislature at the start of the first session after each general election and at the beginning of the first session of every year).
"Every new year, the Governor has to address the joint session of the Assembly, had the speech prepared by the Cabinet. This is a constitutional requirement. Today, instead of reading the speech prepared by the Cabinet, the Governor read the one he himself prepared. This is in violation of the Constitution of India. It violates Articles 176 and 163 of the Indian Constitution," the Chief Minister said.
"He has not discharged his duties as per the Constitution. Therefore, we are going to protest against the attitude of the Governor. We are examining whether or not to approach the Supreme Court," Siddaramaiah added. (ANI)
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