Rahul Gandhi raises slogans over Karnataka political crisis

New Delhi: Congress' Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday raised slogans in Lok Sabha over the Karnataka coalition Government crisis as the party accused the BJP of "poaching" its MLAs in the state. In the parliament, this is for the first time that Gandhi was seen raising slogans in the 17th Lok Sabha. On Tuesday, Gandhi arrived in the House at noon. At that time Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury was raising the Karnataka issue and accused the ruling party of "poaching".

He was, however, disallowed by Speaker Om Birla saying, the matter was discussed in the House on Monday and Deputy Leader of Lok Sabha Rajnath Singh had responded to the charges. "It is your duty to save democracy," a Congress member said.

Unsatisfied with the Speaker's response, Chowdhury again tried to raise the issue. He scribbled a few slogans on a piece of paper and gave it to his fellow MPs sitting behind him, who promptly raised them.

The members raised slogans like "Down with dictatorship" (Tanashahi Band Karo), "Stop the politics of poaching" (Shikar ki rajneeti Band Karo Band karo). As members raised slogans, Gandhi also joined them but his pitch was not as high as others. He merely repeated the last words of the slogans. As members entered the Well, they continued with the sloganeering. The Speaker also warned members against bringing posters.

"This is our right," said one of the members. To which the Speaker said, "No it is not your right".

"The country is watching you. This is your House. Don't make it the house of a civic body," Birla said.

The Congress has been raising issues pertaining to Karnataka in the Lok Sabha and accused the ruling BJP of "indulging in politics of poaching".

Karnataka's year-old Congress-Janata Dal (S) coalition government is on the brink of collapse after the spate of resignations by the MLAs. As many as 15 MLAs have withdrawn their support to the coalition in the state.

The Karnataka Congress has accused the BJP of being behind the resignation of the MLAs and demanded to know how much money was being spent on the legislators, as it alleged that state BJP chief B S Yeddyurappas Personal Assistant was seen along with them.

Siddaramaiah while addressing the media today said, "It has been a habit of BJP to destabilise the govt. This is undemocratic, people haven't given mandate to BJP to form the govt. People have given more votes to us. Both JD(S) and Congress together got more than 57% of votes."

"We are also requesting the Speaker to take legal action under the anti defection law. We are requesting him in our letter to not only disqualify them but also bar them from contesting election for 6 years," Siddaramaiah added.

The Karnataka Assembly has 225 members, including one nominated MLA. The halfway mark in the 225-member assembly is 113. Before the latest spate of resignations, the Congress had 78 MLAs, the JD(S) 37 and the BJP 105. The Congress-JD(S) coalition effectively had the support of 119 MLAs in an Assembly where the halfway mark was 113.