I wanted to become an MLA only once, but ended up being elected 7 times since 1983,” said an emotional Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, on the last day of the legislature session before the elections. He noted in the Assembly that he was the second Chief Minister of Karnataka, after D. Devaraj Urs, to complete a term of five years. He was also the only Chief Minister after Ramakrishna Hegde to present 13 State budgets, he said.
Speaking in the Legislative Council, before the political slanging took over, Mr. Siddaramaiah advised the legislators to keep a watch on what they speak during discussions or in speeches. Unparliamentary words should not be used for gains in political rivalry or for ulterior motives, he said. “We have to be careful in what we speak, especially when the electronic media is present,” he said, in his address to the council. Referring to his time and that of the late Urs, he said: “We are Chief Ministers in different time frames though both of us are from Mysuru and completed five years.”
On the number of days that the legislature met during the last five years, he said: “I am pained that we could have 60 days of legislature sessions annually in the last five years. Assembly met for 244 days and Council a day longer. Quality of sessions should go up, but people believe quality is declining. Only when the quality of sessions increase that parliamentary democracy can grow,” he said.
