Karnataka Assembly Speaker Friday suspended 18 BJP MLAs for six months effective immediately for indiscipline. The action was taken in response to the members’ alleged obstruction of Assembly proceedings earlier in the day. The suspended MLAs were seen climbing the Speaker’s dais, hurling papers at the Speaker. The MLAs were carried out of the assembly by the marshals.
The suspended legislators include Opposition Chief Whip Doddanagouda H Patil, Ashwath Narayan CN, SR Vishwanath, BA Basavaraj, MR Patil, Channabasappa (Channi), B Suresh Gowda, Umanath A Kotyan, Sharanu Salagar, Shailendra Beldale, CK Ramamurthy, Yashpal A Suvarna, BP Harish, Bharath Shetty Y, Munirathna, Basavaraj Mattimood, Dheeraj Muniraju, and Chandru Lamani. These members will be barred from entering the Assembly hall, lobby, and galleries. They will also be prohibited from participating in meetings of any standing committees and from having any subject or matter listed in the Assembly agenda under their names.
Any directives issued by them during the suspension period will not be accepted, and they will not be allowed to vote in committee elections. The Karnataka Legislative Assembly was engulfed in turmoil due to two major issues: the honey-trap scandal and the alleged approval of a contentious bill that provides a four per cent reservation for Muslims in public contracts.
BJP leaders stormed the well of the House, brandishing CDs that implied evidence of blackmail and coercion. Amid this uproar, the Assembly passed a finance bill. However, BJP MLAs, mistakenly believing it to be the bill granting the four per cent reservation, tore and flung copies of the bill, further disrupting proceedings.
The proposed amendment to the Karnataka Transparency in Public Procurements (KTPP) Act reserves four per cent of civil works contracts up to Rs 2 crore and goods/services contracts up to Rs 1 crore for individuals belonging to Category 2B (Muslims). The BJP has criticised this move, labeling it unconstitutional and vowing a legal challenge.