The Opposition BJP is mulling over seeking revocation of the six-month-long suspension of 18 of its legislators in the just-concluded Budget session of the Karnataka legislature.
The 18 BJP MLAs were suspended for showing “disrespect” to the Speaker’s chair during the protest demanding a judicial inquiry into the honey-trapping attempt alleged by Cooperation Minister KN Rajanna.
The BJP legislators tore copies of the financial bill when Chief Minister Siddaramaiah did not yield to their demand and rushed to the Speaker’s podium and flung them in the air. Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister HK Patil passed a motion suspension against the 18 MLAs - BJP chief whip Doddanagouda Patil, former Deputy CM C N Ashwath Narayan, S R Vishwanath, B A Basavaraju, M R Patil, Channabasappa, B Suresh Gowda, Umanath Kotyan, Sharanu Salagar, Dr Shailendra Beldale, C K Ramamurthy, Yashpal Suvarna, B P Harish, Bharath Shetty, Dheeraj Muniraju, Chandru Lamani, Muniratna and Basavaraj Mattimud, which was adopted by the House. The legislators have been suspended from the House for six months and barred from attending the standing committee meetings too.
ವಿಧಾನ ಪರಿಷತ್ ಉಪಸಭಾಪತಿ ಧರ್ಮೇಗೌಡ ಅವರು ಕೂತಿದ್ದ ಪೀಠದ ಮೇಲೆ ಎರಗಿದ @INCKarnataka ದ ಪುಂಡ ಶಾಸಕರು ಅವರನ್ನು ಕೆಳಗೆ ಎಳೆದು ಬಿಸಾಡಿದ್ದರು.
— BJP Karnataka (@BJP4Karnataka) March 22, 2025
ಬುದ್ಧಿವಂತರ ಛಾವಡಿಯೆಂದೇ ಕರೆಯಲಾಗುವ ಪರಿಷತ್ತಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಕಾಂಗ್ರೆಸ್ ಶಾಸಕರು ಅಕ್ಷರಶಃ ಗೂಂಡಾಗಳಂತೆ ವರ್ತಿಸಿ ಧರ್ಮೇಗೌಡರಿಗೆ ಅಪಮಾನ ಮಾಡಿ ಆತ್ಮಹತ್ಯೆ ಮಾಡಿಕೊಳ್ಳಲು ಪ್ರಚೋದನೆ ನೀಡಿದ್ದರು.… pic.twitter.com/rHMFhaDXpQ
Assembly Speaker U.T. Khader, justifying his decision said that the Speakers’ chair was a “symbol of democracy” and the action of the BJP legislators was “condemnable”.
Former Assembly Speaker BJP MP from Belagavi Jagadish Shettar said the six-month-long suspension was “undemocratic”. “The protest was peaceful and in no way targeted the Speaker’s position. The BJP members were protesting against the state government’s handling of the honey-trap case and providing a 4% quota for Muslims in the government civil contracts. This is not undemocratic. I urge the Speaker to revoke the suspension.”
BJP state president B.Y. Vijayendra dubbed the Speaker’s decision as “anti-democratic”.
“A senior minister Rajanna came to the assembly and admitted he was a victim of honey trapping and pleaded for protection from the government. He also revealed in the House that over 48 politicians from the state and the country had fallen into this trap. As the leader of the House, was it not the chief minister’s responsibility or the Speaker's duty to protect the minister? The reputation of all 224 MLAs has been tainted. As the opposition, we were fighting for protection of the minister and other members and we were thrown out. This is unacceptable,” said Vijayendra.
Stating that the dignity of Karnataka was at stake, Shikaripura MLA said, “This is the peak of arrogance of power. This (honeytrap) is a fall out of the intense competition for the Chief Minister’s post, which has led to the ruling party pushing its own ministers and legislators to the streets.”
“Suspension for six months is undemocratic and the Speaker has exhibited his dictatorial attitude. I doubt if the decision was the Speaker's ruling or the ruling Congress’ decision. The Speaker should immediately withdraw his decision. Else, the BJP will be forced to launch a statewide protest from March 26,' warned BJP’s chief whip in Legislative Council N. Ravikumar.
Ravikumar also stated that it was perhaps the first time in parliamentary history that so many MLAs have been suspended for such a long period.
“When Pratap Chandra Shetty was the Speaker during the Congress government, the MLAs had carried the Deputy Speaker from his chair during a no-confidence motion. But no MLA was suspended,” recalled Ravikumar.
On July 19, 2023, the Speaker had suspended 10 BJP MLAs including former ministers Dr. C N Ashwath Narayan, V. Sunil Kumar, R. Ashoka, Araga Jnanendra, D. Vedavyasa Kamath, Yashpal Suvarna, Dheeraj Muniraj, A Umanath Kotian, Arvind Bellad, and Y. Bharath Shetty, for "indecent and disrespectful conduct" during assembly proceedings. Even then, the members had resorted to tearing copies of bills and throwing them at the chair, protesting the Speaker's decision to continue the House proceedings without a lunch break.
Even as the political parties have been debating if the suspension was justified, with Congress MLAs and ministers demanding the suspension of the Leader of Opposition R Ashok, BJP members recalled instances when Siddaramaiah (as LOP) had kicked the Assembly door during a protest and no action had been taken by the Speaker.
Incidentally, in Maharashtra (on July 5, 2021), 12 BJP MLAs were suspended for a year for "gross disorderly conduct" during the assembly proceedings. However, the Supreme Court quashed the one-year suspension (on January 28, 2022), deeming it "unconstitutional" and stating that such prolonged suspensions could impact democratic setups and leave the constituencies unrepresented.
