Karnataka Assembly witnesses uproarious scenes over issue of Emergency & protecting Constitution

PTI, Jul 23, 2024, 5:02 PM IST

Bengaluru: The ruling Congress and opposition BJP in Karnataka sparred in the Legislative Assembly on Tuesday on the issue of Emergency and protecting the Constitution, leading to uproarious scenes.

Following the prolonged arguments and heated exchange with the two sides accusing each other of “murdering the Constitution” and “subverting the democratic system”, the House was adjourned by the Chair for some time.

The issue started when Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar took a dig at the Leader of Opposition R Ashoka, while reacting to his appreciation of Speaker U T Khader for installing a plaque containing the preamble of the Constitution inside the House.

“We have to congratulate Ashoka and his party for the concern they have developed towards protecting the Constitution,” Shivakumar said.
Reacting to this, Ashoka accused the Congress of trying to “finish off” the Constitution by declaring emergency in 1975.

Hitting back, Shivakumar noted that after the emergency, Indira Gandhi came back to power; also Rajiv Gandhi, P V Narasimha Rao and Manmohan Singh from Congress went on to serve as Prime Ministers.

Senior BJP MLA Suresh Kumar said he was a “victim” of the emergency.”

“I was their (Congress) guest at the High Ground police station..,” he said sarcastically. “You (Congress) cannot come out of the dark image of those 21 months (of emergency). That credit goes to you….you don’t know anything about it. Things were unleashed using a captive Parliament.”

Some Congress members, including Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao, taking a strong exception to Suresh Kumar’s statement, claimed that there has been an undeclared emergency in the country for the past ten years and the Constitution was “being murdered.”

Some Congress MLAs cited the Godhra incident and alleged misuse of the Enforcement Directorate by the BJP-led NDA government.

This led to verbal exchange between the sides, with Suresh Kumar taking potshots at the Congress MLAs for defending the emergency, while Ministers like Rao and K J George accused the BJP government at the Centre of “destroying” Constitutional institutions like Election Commission, and “capturing media, and bringing down” elected governments, among others.

Even as the arguments continued, Speaker Khader, trying to calm down tempers, said the entire coastline from Gujarat to Kerala was ruled by smugglers like Haji Mastan and Karim Lala back then, and during emergency they were put in jail by the then PM Indira Gandhi.

BJP MLAs including senior legislators Araga Jnanendra took exception to this and said the emergency was nothing but abuse of the Constitution, adding, the Speaker should not defend the emergency. This once again led to heated exchange between the two sides.

Ashoka said the Chair should not speak as though defending the emergency; it is not good.

The Speaker said there are both pros and cons of the emergency, and everything should be discussed.

BJP MLA Harish Poonja asked if emergency was required to be brought in, for the Congress government to arrest Haji Mastan.

Amid chaos, Congress MLA Rajegowda allegedly used a derogatory word against Poonja (which the Chair said will be expunged after checking the records), as angry BJP MLAs demanded an apology from the ruling party legislator.

As the situation did not come under control, the Speaker adjourned the House for some time.