Bangalore: Congress and independent members in the Karnataka Assembly on Monday sought the resignation of Speaker KG Bopaiah in the wake of the Supreme Court holding as "unconstitutional" his decision to disqualify five independent MLAs in 2010 ahead of a trust vote.
Four independents -- PM Narendraswamy, Venkataramanappa, Shivaraj S Thangadagi and D Sudhakar -- objected to Bopaiah sitting next to the Governor, immediately after the latter began his address to the joint session of the
state legislature.
They said the "tainted" Speaker had gone against the Constitution by disqualifying the MLAS.
When the house re-assembled after the Governor left, the Congress members were on their feet vociferously demanding the Speaker`s resignation, while the independents trooped into the Well of the House to make their point.
Bopaiah said he was laying the Governor`s speech in the Assembly and adjourned the House to meet tomorrow as per the agenda of the day.
Earlier in the session, BJP member Belur Gopalakrishna displayed a placard protesting the Governor`s alleged refusal to meet 11 party MLAs, after the Speaker`s decision to disqualify them was quashed by the Supreme Court.
As soon as the Governor concluded his speech, Congress MLC VR Sudarshan charged the government with not "representing the aspirations of the people" and termed it a "shame".
PTI
