Karnataka: BJP leaders boycott assembly, stage protest day after suspension of 10 party MLAs over 'indiscipline'

The 10 BJP MLAs were suspended on Wednesday by Speaker U T Khader after the legislators tore copies of the Bills passed in the assembly and threw them at Deputy Speaker Rudrappa Lamani.

Bengaluru: Day after the Speaker of the Karnataka assembly suspended 1-0 BJP MLAs for “indiscpline”, the party leaders on Thursday boycotted the session and staged a protest against the suspension. The BJP leaders led by former Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, Araga Gyanendra, Munirathna, Suresh Kumar, Bairati Basavaraj, Sunil Kumar, Gopalaya and many others gathered in front of the Gandhi statue of Vidhan Sabha to lodge a protest against the suspension of the 10 MLAs on Wednesday.

After the protest, the BJP MLAs have decided to walk to the Raj Bhavan and file a complaint. The 10 BJP MLAs were suspended by Karnataka Legislative Assembly Speaker U T Khader after the legislators tore copies of the Bills passed in the assembly and threw them at Deputy Speaker Rudrappa Lamani. Soon after the MLAs were suspended, former Karnataka CM and BJP leader Basavaraj Bommai termed the move as the “black day for democracy”.

Talking to the media on the occasion, Bommai accused the Congress government of “murdering”. “They (10 BJP MLAs) have been suspended for their small agitation. We will fight for the right of the suspended MLAs: Former Karnataka CM Bommai on the suspension of 10 BJP MLAs from the Karnataka Assembly,” Bommai said.

In view of the suspension of BJP members in the assembly on Wednesday, a meeting was held at the BJP office under the leadership of state president Nalin Kumar. In the meeting held at Jagannath Bhavan in Malleswar, the future stand and struggle of BJP was discussed. Deputy Chuef Minister DK Shivakumar on Thursday said that the BJP MLAs were “behaving like goons” inside the assembly.

“They cannot tolerate the appointment of minorities as Speaker and Dalits as Deputy Speakers,” Shivakumar said.