Vishweshwar Hedge Kageri, the Speaker of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly recently referred to the breach of privilege notice against the Congress MLA B.K Sangamesh. This comes after he took off his shirt in the Assembly.
MLAs Stand Up Against “Shirtless Protest”
On March 4, 2021, Sangamesh removed his shirt in front of a working assembly to protest against the “highhandedness” but the rulers of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the Shivamogga district. The area is a home district of the Chief Minister B.S Yediyurappa and Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister, K.S Eshwarappa.
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The incident took place during the two-day special discussion on “One Nation, One Election (ONOE)”. The privilege motion was initiated by the senior BJP MLA Araga Jnanendra from the Teerthahalli constituency of Shivamogga district.
Jnanendra submitted a detailed discussion on the matter, Speaker Kageri sought the approval for another ten members in the house regarding their support of the notice. BJP MLAs stood in support.
However, Siddaramaiah strongly objected and said that Sangamesh has not disrespected the Speaker and if he did say something there wasn’t any authentication to it. When Jnanendra moved the motion, the Congress party members trooped in front of the Speaker to protest against the motion. They said that any person should not be punished for the same offence twice.
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At the same time, Jnanendra said that the way Sangamesh behaved during the Congress protests was “disgraceful” and amounted to breach of privilege of the house.
BJP Members Demand Permanent Suspension
During the discussion, some of the BJP members demanded permanent suspension for Sangamesh from the Assembly. The leader of the opposition, Siddaramaiah said that the Speaker had already punished him when he was suspended for a week. And punishing him again would send a wrong image across.
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Speaker Kageri responded to the comments. He said even Siddaramaiah must not support such acts. He said that everyone must hold the responsibility to uphold parliamentary values.
