Congress MLA skips oath, waiting for party chief Shivakumar stuck in traffic

BENGALURU: Newly-elected Hanagal Congress MLA Srinivasa Mane, who missed taking oath of office on Thursday, may have to wait until Belagavi’s winter session which is likely to begin on December 13. Speaker Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri administered the oath of office to Sindagi Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Ramesh Bhusanur at a ceremony at 11am, at the conference hall of the state secretariat in Vidhana Soudha.

In fact, Mane showed up along with Bhusanur, but went in search of Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president D K Shivakumar, whose arrival was delayed due to a traffic snarl.  So when Mane’s turn came, Kageri sought his presence and waited for a while. He asked secretary Vishalakshi to find him, but in vain. KPCC working president Saleem Ahmed, who was present in the hall, kept dialling Mane to inform him to return at the earliest. 

When he did not turn up, an angry Speaker termed Mane’s behaviour “indecent” and left as he had pre-scheduled programmes. The Speaker is leaving for his hometown Sirsi, and will return only on November 16. He is again expected to leave for Shimla to take part in the national conference of presiding officers, slated to be held between November 16 and 20.

So Mane may have to wait until his return from Shimla, or until the winter session in Belagavi.Hanagal effect D K Shivakumar, who wished to accompany Mane taking oath, arrived late. However, he alleged that the Speaker had taken the opportunity to express his tirade against the Congress, for the BJP’s defeat in Hanagal.

“Since we were just five minutes late, the Speaker should have given us some time. Let him fix any date for the oath taking. But this is unwarranted in a democracy,” Shivakumar said.
He, however, admitted that he had erred in coming late, while clarifying that he respects the Speaker’s chair.

This is not the first such instance: Newly elected Basavakalyan MLA Sharanu Salagar of the BJP and Maski MLA Basanagouda Turvihal of the Congress had reportedly made the Speaker wait for at least 15 minutes on June 8, 2021. Although upset with such behaviour, the Speaker had waited patiently. “They were first-time MLAs so the Speaker had cooperated. But Mane is a senior leader and should have been punctual to respect the chair of the Speaker,” remarked a senior official with the secretariat.