Chief Minister D K Shivakumar said Yashvantharayagouda Patil made an emotional decision considering farmers' welfare. (File Photo
Karnataka Congress MLA Yashvantharayagouda Patil has resigned from the Assembly alleging a delay in declaring two taluks drought-hit. This was the second time in two months he had submitted his resignation letter, but the Speaker rejected it on technical grounds.
Patil wanted drought-hit status for Indi and Chadachan taluks in Vijayapura district, which fall under his constituency. In his resignation letter dated September 22, the Indi MLA alleged disparity in declaring taluks drought-hit, providing ammunition to Opposition BJP legislators who targeted the government in the Assembly over the drought situation on Wednesday.
Chief Minister D K Shivakumar said Patil had tried to contact his office and that he had spoken to the MLA.
“More than a hundred MLAs have come to me with petitions urging me to include their constituencies as drought-affected. But I cannot do that. We have to consider the parameters,” he said, adding that the government was under pressure.
“This is an emotional decision he took considering the welfare of farmers in his region,” the chief minister said.
‘Ask Centre to relax norms’
Leader of the Opposition R Ashoka noted that senior legislator H K Patil had threatened to resign over the delay in declaring Gadag drought-hit. The BJP leader also accused the government of inaction.
In his response, Revenue Minister G Parameshwara demanded that BJP legislators convince the central government to relax norms for declaring taluks drought-hit.
“We have written 10 letters about it (to the Centre) asking it to relax the stringent parameters,” he said, adding that the state government was ready to declare all the taluks in the state as drought-hit due to poor rainfall.
Following a fierce exchange between the treasury and Opposition benches, Ashoka recalled that Shivakumar previously said he would accept resignations within minutes. This referred to the time in August when Patil resigned and several other legislators threatened to resign after missing out on Cabinet berths. The Speaker then rejected his resignation letter.
While Ashoka urged Speaker G S Patil to take a call on the MLA’s resignation, Higher Education Minister Basavaraj Rayareddy objected, arguing that a resignation letter should contain only a single line and no explanation.
The Speaker said the MLA’s resignation letter would not be accepted since it did not follow the rules.
For More News Updates Follow Us On www.tconews.in
