Bengaluru: The meeting convened by Assembly Speaker K.R. Ramesh Kumar with Opposition leader B.S. Yeddyurappa and Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy at his chamber at Vidhana Soudha this morning to discuss the way on how the controversial audio clip should be probed, was a total failure as the Opposition BJP walked out of the meeting twice.
The ‘Audio Gate,’ in which an audio chip allegedly features Yeddyurappa and Devadurga BJP legislator Shivanagowda Naik trying to lure the son of Gurmitkal JD(S) MLA Naganagouda Kandakur by offering a huge sum of money and also contained a claim that Speaker Ramesh Kumar had been bribed to accept resignations of disgruntled MLAs and thus pave the way for toppling the H.D. Kumaraswamy headed coalition Government, has caused ripples in State politics over the past few days.
The Assembly proceedings on Tuesday witnessed the Government and the Opposition locking horns over the audio clip, with the ruling JD(S)-Congress Coalition and the Speaker maintaining that a SIT should probe the clip, while the BJP insisted on setting up of a House Committee.
Following the imbroglio, Ramesh Kumar convened a meeting this morning. While the BJP members led by B.S. Yeddyurappa insisted on setting up of a House Committee, the ruling coalition partners insisted on a SIT (Special Investigation Team) probe. Even as the coalition partners continued to insist on SIT probe, BJP members walked out of the meeting midway.
Speaker Ramesh Kumar convened a second round of meeting a little over an hour of after the first meeting. But this meeting too failed as the ruling coalition partners and the Opposition BJP stuck to their guns.
After the second round of talks too failed, the Legislature session began. The BJP is likely to stage an indefinite dharna in the well of the Assembly if its demand for a House Committee probe is not conceded.
Meanwhile, all the four Congress Legislators — Ramesh Jarkiholi, Umesh Jadhav, B, Nagendra and Mahesh Kumthalli, who had failed to attend the Congress Legislature Party meeting recently after defying the party’s whip, turned up at Vidhana Soudha this morning to take part in the session.
This post was published on February 13, 2019 6:43 pm