K’taka Congress defends Speaker, Chairman candidate announcement
Bengaluru: Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) President B.K. Hariprasad on Tuesday defended the Congress’ announcement of candidates for the posts of Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Assembly and Chairman and Deputy Chairman of the Legislative Council, rejecting Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) allegations of constitutional impropriety.
The BJP had accused the Congress of violating constitutional norms by declaring names for the posts before they fell vacant. The Congress high command has nominated G.S. Patil as Speaker, A.S. Ponnanna as Deputy Speaker, Saleem Ahmed as Chairperson of the Legislative Council and Umashree as Deputy Chairperson.
Hariprasad said the party had only announced its candidates and had not appointed anyone to constitutional offices.
“The BJP leaders should first read the Constitution and then read the Congress party’s letterhead,” he remarked.
He cited Articles 178 and 182 of the Constitution, which state that the Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the Assembly and the Chairman and Deputy Chairman of the Council are elected by the respective Houses.
He accused the BJP of deliberately confusing candidate announcements with the constitutional election process.
“What else can it be called but ignorance when the BJP describes the announcement of party candidates as unconstitutional?” he asked.
Hariprasad pointed to precedents, noting that in 2019 the BJP had declared Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri as its candidate for Speaker before the election, while the NDA had announced Om Birla as its candidate for Lok Sabha Speaker ahead of the 2024 election.
He also cited BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari’s announcement of Rathindra Bose as Speaker candidate in West Bengal before voting.
The KPCC chief further alleged that the BJP had no moral authority to lecture on constitutional values, recalling that the election of M.K. Pranesh as Deputy Chairman of the Legislative Council was later set aside by the court for irregularities.
“The Congress does not require lessons on the Constitution from the BJP,” Hariprasad said.