Cong using lame excuses to stall proceedings of house: k’taka cm

Bengaluru Karnataka chief minister B

Bengaluru

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Karnataka chief minister B.S Yediyurappa on Tuesday lashed out at the Congress for using “lame excuses” to disrupt the proceedings of the ongoing budget session of the state legislature.

“Our Congress friends have been using lame excuses to hold a dharna yesterday during the budget session. Ramesh Jarkiholi has taken moral responsibility and resigned. We are getting it investigated. The woman is not coming forward nor saying anything clearly. Despite all this, how is it right to hold a dharna? They have no other issues to have a debate and are wasting time,” Yediyurappa told reporters outside the legislature on Tuesday.

The Congress has remained steadfast about its demand for a court-monitored probe into the alleged sex-for-work scandal involving former water resources minister Ramesh Jarkiholi.

Congress legislators chanted slogans against the state government while holding Compact Discs (CD).

Basavaraj Bommai, Karnataka’s home, law and parliamentary affairs minister, tried to calm the opposition benches by stating that the government has given its response to the concerns raised by the Congress.

Speaking to reporters outside the assembly, Bommai said the Congress has no moral right to question the government since it had resorted to brushing away similar allegations against then excise minister H.Y Meti in 2016.

Bommai said that in the Meti case, despite the woman in question coming forward and complaining against sexual harassment against the minister, no action was taken.

He said the case was handed to the Central Investigation Department (CID) without even filing an FIR and a clean chit was given months before the case was even closed a year later.

“When the Meti incident happened, why was there no court-monitored probe?” Bommai questioned the Congress.

Meanwhile, the investigation into the sex scandal appears to have made little progress since the victim nor her family were yet to be located by the special investigation team (SIT) set up to probe the incident.

Several Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislators and ministers have stated that the woman who claims to be the victim has ‘been on the run’.

During the commotion, the government tabled three bills including the supplementary budget estimates.