BANGALORE: Worrying over the continued boycott of the Legislature session by the Opposition parties — Congress and JD(S) — the BJP has decided to extend an olive branch to the Congress party in order to restore the sheen of the house when it reassembles on Monday.The 10-day session, which began on Thursday, has been marred by boycotts from the Congress and JD(S).Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa won the confidence motion in the absence of all Opposition party members and six independents on the opening day.The manner in which the Assembly Speaker treated the notice for seeking adjournment motion from the Chair forced Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Siddaramaiah to stage a walk out from the house and the assembly lobby hall.Congress legislators shunned the Assembly on the second day in protest against the autocratic and pro-government attitude of Speaker K G Bopaiah and have decided to stay away from the house as long he remains in office.Speaking to Express, Siddaramaiah squarely blamed the state government and the Speaker for the unsavoury incidents which led to Congress legislators to abstaining from the house.“Never in the history of the Legislature has a Speaker chosen to respond to an adjournment motion outside the house. It shows that the scam-tainted government is intent in not allowing the Opposition to participate in the house and expose itself,” he charged. Strongly defending the action of seeking an adjournment motion to discuss the impact of the Supreme Court verdict, Sidhdaramaiah said the court had observed that “Speaker had acted hastily with extraneous considerations to save the government.” Regretting the boycott of the Opposition parties, Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs S Suresh Kumar said that he is making efforts to reach out to the Congress and convince it to come back to the house and participate in debates. Maintaining that the government had never disrespected the Opposition parties, the law minister blamed Congress leaders for the present situation. “Their attitude towards Speaker, who is a constitutional authority, and the vocabulary against him is deplorable,” he said. On the Speaker’s rejection of the adjournment motion, Suresh Kumar opined that the latter had gone by the “rule book”.Notwithstanding the unsavoury incidents witnessed in the last two days, the minister said: “I am exploring ways to break the dead-lock between the Opposition and the government and ensure smooth sailing of session.”‘Opp Always Gets a Raw Deal’Kimmane Rathnakar (Congress), a first-time MLA, blamed the ruling party for the present situation and charged that Opposition party members were always meted out a raw deal by the government, even when it came to releasing developmental grants.
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