Bengaluru, Aug 1: Chief minister BS Yediyurappa on Wednesday left the Congressfuming after he evaded questions on the reasons behind his cancelling Tipu Jayanti celebrations. Yediyurappa chose to walk away even as opposition leader Siddaramaiah continued to raise the issue.
On a day when the new speaker, Vishveshwar Hegde Kageri, took charge of the assembly unopposed, the Congress was ready to use the opportunity to raise the Tipu Jayanti issue. However, Yediyurappa chose to turn a deaf ear to the former CM, who kept asking: “Yediyurappa avare, kuthkoli bari aidhu nimsha... yen agala,” (Yediyurappa please sit for five minutes, nothing will happen). The CM, however, folded his hands, asked Siddaramaiah to excuse him and walked out of the assembly.
At the start of the session, Yediyurappa had said he would be leaving for Chikkamagaluru to attend the funeral of coffee baron VG Siddhartha. Facing his first test as the new speaker, Kageri tried to “defend” the government. Kageri said the CM had already made known his intention to leave the house early and neither Siddaramaiah nor the Congress had sent a notice to deliberate on an issue outside the day’s agenda.
Siddaramaiah, however, countered: “There is no written rule that prior notice should be submitted to the speaker for issues to be raised in the house. Besides, I have no objection to the CM leaving. But where is the government? There is no council of ministers and all the BJP leaders are only legislators; there is no minister to attend to the opposition’s complaint on why Tipu Jayanti has been cancelled. You should have instructed the CM to stay back and listen to us...”. However, by then, Kageri decided to adjourn the house sine die.
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