BELAGAVI: The Opposition Congress MLAs, led by Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, Siddaramaiah, staged a protest outside the Assembly after V D Savarkar’s portrait was unveiled inside the Assembly Hall at Suvarna Vidhana Soudha on Monday. The first day of the winter session of the state Assembly began on Monday at the Suvarna Vidhana Soudha in Belagavi.
Opposition leaders, including Siddaramaiah, were among those who staged a demonstration and sat outside the Assembly on the steps to protest against the ruling Basavaraj Bommai government’s decision to unveil a portrait of Veer Savarkar in the Assembly hall. Siddaramaiah, in a letter to the Speaker, requested for the installation of portraits of personalities like Valmiki, Basavanna, Kanakadasa, B R Ambedkar, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and others.
Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president D K Shivakumar accused the state government of attempting to disrupt Assembly proceedings through such steps. “They want that the Assembly proceedings should not take place. They want it disrupted. They have brought this photo because we are going to raise a lot of corruption issues against them. They don’t have any development agenda”, Shivakumar said.
Meanwhile, the BJP has hit out agains the Opposition protests. “There may be ideological differences, but Savarkar is a freedom fighter. Ask Siddaramaiah whose poster must be put, of Dawood Ibrahim?” Union Minister Pralhad Joshi said in Delhi outside Parliament.
During the 10-day winter session of the Karnataka Assembly, the border row with neighbouring Maharashtra is likely to be brought up. (ANI)