BENGALURU: The BJP on Tuesday made a second bid to oust Prathap Chandra Shetty of the Congress from the post of legislative council chairman, and its no-confidence motion has been accepted.
During council proceedings, the Congress and BJP were locked in a fierce tussle over when the motion should be taken up for debate and voting — rules stipulate a five-day window from the day the motion is accepted. The session is scheduled to end on February 5, and the government may extend the session by two days to take up the no-trust motion.
Motion will be taken up within five days: Shetty
An earlier attempt by the BJP to remove Shetty from the post ran aground during a one-day session on December 15 that ended in ugly scenes and scuffle.
Sources said the chief minister had planned to hold an emergency meeting on Tuesday evening to fix the calendar of events for the chairman’s election as the BJP was expecting Shetty to throw in the towel before facing the motion. While the Congress lacks the numbers in the upper house, JD(S) has backed the BJP in this move.
With Shetty biding time, the government did not go ahead with its move to hold an emergency cabinet meeting.
In the council, BJP’s Ayanur Manjunath urged the chair to announce the date for discussing the no-trust motion. He told the chairperson: “Since the session is set to conclude on February 5 and if you decide to take it on the fifth day, then it will be February 6. By then, the session will be over.”
Shetty said no member can fix the time and date for the chair to take up any issue. “Maybe you are in a hurry. As per laws, the motion will be taken up within five days and the same will be notified in the agenda,” Shetty said.
This led to a war of words between Congress and BJP members. Law and parliamentary affairs minister Basavaraj Bommai asked Shetty what will happen if the session ends before taking up the motion. Shetty reiterated that the motion will be taken up as per the law. Bommai ended the debate, saying he would leave it to Shetty’s discretion.