Leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah purchasing dhotis recently, which was discussed last week in the Legislative Assembly in a lighter vein, is refusing to die down. In fact, it took a serious turn on Sunday. It all began with a discussion in the House on inflation and Mr. Siddaramaiah’s observation that hardly anyone buys clothes these days because people have no money to shop. That was when Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai interjected to say that a little bird had informed him of Mr. Siddaramaiah’s recent shopping spree and purchase of 90 sets of dhotis. Without going into whether he had indeed bought 90 sets, Mr. Siddaramaiah instead took off on the merits of a dhoti. “I buy dhotis because there are no fitting problems with the garment. Though I have put on weight these days, I don’t have to worry.” When Speaker Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri asked whom he had purchased so many clothes for, Mr. Siddaramaiah replied: “I buy only for myself since my son has grown up and he buys his clothes.” As the conversation continued, former Speaker K.R. Ramesh Kumar interjected to say it was okay to talk about wearing clothes as long people in positions of power keep them on. The banter rather abruptly stopped there, considering it was a subtle reference to the sex CD scandal. But that was not the end of it. With BJP State president Nalin Kumar Kateel again invoking the dhoti purchase episode, Mr. Siddaramaiah on Sunday tweeted, “I bought 90 pairs of clothes to donate to BJP leaders who are losing respect in public.” He went on to say: “Apparently there are 19 more CDs. Everything should be under control, including the tongue.”
Attitude matters
A compliment paid to Speaker Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri seemed to make him a tad uncomfortable in the Assembly last week.
Amidst a conversation on how the attitude of a Speaker matters in conduct of the House, former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said that Opposition leaders seem to have better coordination with the Speaker in conducting the Assembly.
The Speaker was quick to intervene and say that he also has a great understanding with the Leader of the House and Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa. While Mr. Siddaramaiah was keen to continue on the theme, Mr. Kageri appeared in a hurry to stop the discussion, lest the media begins to speculate on implications of this so-called bonhomie.
Investment vs lives
Should the long arm of law stop short of reaching industrialists for the fear that it may discourage them from investing in our State? Mines and Geology Minister Murugesh Nirani came under criticism in the Council after he said that action against industrialists or owners of firms that report accidents would not inspire them to continue in our State. During a debate on illegal quarrying, the Minister asked what would inspire an industrialist to continue if he is arrested for an accident on premises owned by him “for no fault of his”. This angered Opposition leader S.R. Patil who sought to know if the State has to treat industrialists above law, even when lives are lost on their premises, fearing loss of investment. JD(S) member K.A. Thippeswamy warned that the Minister’s statements should not end up influencing investigators in the probe.
Nagesh Prabhu
Sharath S. Srivatsa