BENGALURU: In an unusual protest against the ruling BJP, Opposition leader Siddaramaiah and other Congress leaders entered the Assembly hall wearing flowers on their ears, to signal that the BJP government had not fulfilled promises made the previous budget and was fooling people.
The Congress leaders kept marigold flower on their ears and symbolically mocked the budget. The Congress called it ‘Kivi Mele Hoova’ (flower on the ear) to indicate that people had been fooled. Revenue Minister R Ashoka objected to Siddaramaiah wearing a flower on his ear during the budget presentation.
Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said that it was Siddaramaiah, as Chief Minister, who had put flowers on people’s ears for long. Now, he is wearing a flower on the ear and, in the coming days, he will put flowers on other people’s ears, he remarked.
Siddaramaiah said that CM Bommai is putting flowers on people’s ears through this budget. The BJP leaders strongly objected to Siddaramaiah’s statement before the start of the budget.