Bangalore: The Congress in Karnataka on Friday
charged that the B S Yeddyurappa Government had informed
police about the disqualification of 16 MLAs, even before the
Speaker issued orders to this effect.
Chief Minister Yeddyurappa at a meeting of top police
officials held at his home office 'Krishna' on October 10 had
directed police to stop disqualified MLAs at the outer gate of
Vidhana Soudha, Congress leader V S Ugrappa told reporters
here.
The police officials were also told to ensure that the
rebel MLAs did not gain entry into Assembly hall, he added.
The Congress leader also released copies of a seven-page
report submitted to DGP Ajai Kumar Singh by Bangalore Police
Commissioner Shankar Bidari on the October 11 unruly incidents
in the Assembly and also the entry of five disqualified
Independents there.
The contents demonstrate clearly that the government was
aware of the Speaker's decision much before it was pronounced,
he claimed.
Ugrappa quoted Bidari saying in his report that "the
decision taken on October 10 at 'Krishna' that the
disqualified MLAs should be allowed upto the outer gate of the
Assembly premises appears to be a serious error of judgement.
"If the decision to detain them at the outer gate only
had been taken, there would not have been any scope for the
disqualified MLAs to trespass into the Assembly hall."
The seven-page report report was submitted to the DGP on
October 12.
Bidari also states that as per the decision taken at the
meeting with the chief minister, police had kept 20 cars ready
for detaining disqualified MLAs under Section 71 of the
Karnataka Police Act and to release them after the trust vote
session concluded, the Congress leader said.
Ugrappa, former opposition Congress leader in the Upper
House, charged that the government had misused the Speaker's
Office to get 16 MLAs disqualified to enable it to win the
trust vote.
When contacted by PTI, Bidari said "I have not received
any letter from the Government. I have not sent any report".
PTI
First Published: Friday, October 15, 2010, 22:04