Bengaluru: Kota Srinivas Poojari, Leader of Opposition in the Karnataka Legislative Council on Thursday demanded an apology from Chief Minister Siddaramaiah for addressing BJP leaders as hooligans in the council.
Speaking to reporters, Poojari stated, “CM Siddaramaiah has called Opposition leaders goondas, he should apologise. People will give him an appropriate answer for these comments.”
“CM Siddaramaiah while answering a question which could have been answered in four to five minutes had criticised the Centre for hours and it was objected to. Instead of answering, he called all the Opposition members goondas,” he stated.
“I have not seen a Chief Minister using the word ‘goonda’ in a session in history. We have demanded that he should take back his words and apologise. Condemning the statements by the CM, BJP and JD-S members walked out of the session,” Poojari explained.
The trouble began when Siddaramaiah was answering a question by Congress member UB Venkatesh on devolution of taxes.
Siddaramaiah claimed that Karnataka was in the second position in terms of tax collection in the country, but in turn, the state’s share from the Centre was decreasing.
“Though the size of the Union Budget doubled, the share of Karnataka has not increased,” he said.
The BJP MLAs began raising objections to his comments.
Siddaramaiah asked the BJP members to speak once he completed his speech, however, when they continued making their objections, he stated, “I won’t fear goondaism. Seven crore people are watching. If you are standing up, it means you have committed a mistake.”
Following the chaos, the council session was adjourned. Miffed by the objections from BJP council members, CM Siddaramaiah questioned them, asking if they were indulging in hooliganism.
“You are goondas. I won’t bow down to your hooliganism,” he stated.
The LoP in the Council, Kota Srinivas Poojari, questioned Siddaramaiah, asking who made the gesture of inviting the Opposition to a fight in the past. “Now you are alleging goondaism against us,” he added.
Siddaramaiah became furious and stated, “You are goondas. I won’t fear you. I am telling the truth. The people are cursing you. My tax is my right.”
The BJP members started raising slogans that they were against the “goonda Congress government.”
–IANS