Elevation of K.R. Ramesh as the Speaker of the 15th Karnataka Legislative Assembly
Actually I
don’t know about K.R. Ramesh – Congress MLA, but, on reading his wonderful
interview published in the Hindu dated 26th May 2018, I am in all
praise for him. It is also to be noted
that BJP had at the last moment had withdrawn its speaker candidate so as to
elect K.R.Ramesh unanimously as the speaker of 15th Legislative
Assembly. It is perhaps knowing K.R.Ramesh’s credentials by the BJP.
K.R. Ramesh Kumar is a
six-time MLA and this is his second term as Speaker, after his first stint
between 1994 and 1999 When H.D. Deve Gowda was heading the Karnataka Government
and it is a rare coincidence that he became again a speaker in his son’s
government.
His concerns
on the fall in level of decorum in the House is very much reflected in this
interview, as both Chief Minister H.D.Kumaraswamy and former Chief Minister
B.S.Yeddyurappa traded charges against each other during the motion of
confidence.
The replies of
the new speaker are really wonderful in contents and show his maturity and
erudition.
Perhaps, even
in this melee one silver lining is that we could get a good speaker.
S. Sankaran.
Excerpts from an
interview:
The session saw many
personal attacks. What do you feel about it?
That is bad. They should have understood my initial
thanksgiving remarks. I did tell them how the language should be. It should be
effective and convey the message. But politics is now reduced to this level
right from the top most office, making personal accusations, baseless remarks,
and character assassination. You cannot accept (it).
What do you think are the
reasons for the decline?
In the past, the House had dignified and respectable
members no matter which party they belonged to.
Decline begins when the line of demarcation between
business and politics disappears. When business becomes politics and vice versa
in any political system you cannot have better results than this.
Will you bring in any code
to prevent character assassination on the floor of the House?
No. As presiding officer, my endeavour will be to
raise the level. It will not happen at the start.
That (character assassination) is because of
intellectual poverty. If you are intellectually equipped, you will start your
argument/attack on issues. You will go by statistics and merit.
If you don’t have stuff, you will borrow it from
someone. It is a ‘tiffin’ carrier.
This Assembly has more
than 50 newcomers. How do you plan to train them?
The legislature convenes training programmes for
first-timers to make them understand parliamentary practices. They
(legislators) get elected for various reasons and the most important thing is
how many of them will be interested to understand parliamentary practices, and
go to the library to understand things.
It is a coalition
government against a formidable Opposition. Do you think the sessions will be
stormy and will your role be tricky?
It is not a Rotary Club. It’s a legislature. Let the sessions
be stormy. Coalition is a matter of administrative convenience between two
parties. My work is only to run the House.
What do you have to say
about the former Minister Suresh Kumar withdrawing from the race for Speaker?
In the best of their (BJP) wisdom, they must have
discussed and decided it. I complement and thank them. They have shown
large-heartedness and it is a good gesture.
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