K. Prathapchandra Shetty resigns as Council chairman

K. Prathapchandra Shetty give up as Chairman of the Legislative Council on Thursday, after studying out a nine-page resignation letter by which he mentioned the current “untoward incidents” within the House “hold a mirror to the system”, and searching for an apology from the folks of Karnataka.

A movement to take away Mr. Shetty had been tabled within the Council and it was set to be taken up for dialogue. However, he selected to give up and submitted his resignation to Deputy Chairman M.K. Pranesh. Now, senior JD (S) member Basavaraj Horatti is all set to be elected as the brand new Chairman.

Mr. Shetty, a four-time MLA and a three-time MLC, was unanimously elected to the submit in December, 2018 in the course of the Congress-JD(S) coalition authorities. However, the JD(S) and BJP lately got here to an understanding to dislodge Mr. Shetty. BJP member M.K. Pranesh was elected Deputy Chairman, with JD(S) assist. The quantity sport had led to uproarious scenes within the House on December 15, 2020, when the late S. L. Dharme Gowda, then Deputy Chairman, sat on the seat of the Chairman when Mr. Shetty was not within the House.

Mr. Shetty mentioned in his letter that amidst the “political reality of the numerical strength of parties being the basis of most decisions”, a Chairman’s job of defending Constitutional values was a “walk on the sword’s edge”.

He was pained that some selections he took in folks’s curiosity led to a query over the credibility of the Chair. “The Chairman’s post is a Constitutional post and if it is changed every time numbers change, it may become difficult to conduct the House well, in today’s political situation,” he mentioned.

Saying that he was pained by the state of affairs resulting in untoward incidents within the Council throughout his time period as Chairman, Mr. Shetty mentioned he thought of it his “Rajadharma” to battle it legally when the credibility of the Chair was in query. Mr. Shetty additional mentioned he had submitted a report on the incidents that rocked the Council in December to the Governor and hoped he would take appropriate motion.

Sources in BJP mentioned that the Business Advisory Committee assembly on Friday will seemingly lengthen the Council session by two extra days until Tuesday. The notification for Chairman’s election will seemingly be issued on Monday and election held on Tuesday, a senior BJP member mentioned.