Bengaluru: While Karnataka’s newly-appointed deputy chief minister D.K Shivakumar is often heard telling party workers and legislators to “worship the party, not the person”, he did not protest when a first-time MLA took oath in his name on the floor of the legislative assembly in Bengaluru Monday.
The move by Basavaraju Shivaganga, legislator from Channagiri in Davangere district, came despite pro-term Speaker R.V. Deshpande’s specific instructions before the process started at 11 am Monday, “When you take your oath, you can do so in the name of the Constitution of India or god. But it will not be legal if it is made in the name of any person”.
Shivaganga, a Lingayat MLA, was first seen seeking the blessings of Shivakumar and Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, before heading to take the oath administered by the legislature secretary.
The MLA read the template with his name according to the text given by the legislature secretary and then went on to say that he took his oath in the name of God and “my aaradhya dhaiva (Kannada for adorable deity) D.K. Shivakumar”.
The secretary of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly appeared surprised at the mention of Shivakumar’s name and even gestured for Shivaganga to stop, but he continued.
“Go wish sir [Deshpande] and then sign the book [for MLAs],” the legislature secretary, M.K. Vishalakshi, was heard whispering to Shivaganga.
Shivaganga was not the legislator in the newly-elected Karnataka assembly to have deviated from the oath-taking stipulations. Earlier, Shivakumar himself while taking oath as the state’s new deputy CM Saturday, had done so in the name of his spiritual guru, Gangadhara Ajja.
Basanagouda Patil (Yatnal), the firebrand Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator from Vijayapura, took oath in the name of ‘Hindutva and Goumata (cow)’ Monday. Several others too violated the brief.
Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah had locked horns over the CM’s post, before the Congress announced the latter’s name for the top post, after the party’s decisive victory in this month’s assembly election. The Congress won 135 of 224 seats in the Karnataka assembly.
During the four-day deliberations following the victory, many Congress MLAs had come out in support of their respective leaders — Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah — as CM and Shivaganga’s oath is likely an extension of the same “loyalty”.
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Other MLAs who violated the brief
Meanwhile, Yatnal not only violated Deshpande’s instructions for the oath-taking, but also complained about the order in which he was made to take the oath, asking why he was not being called sooner.
When informed that the MLAs were being called in the alphabetical order of their names, Yatnal joked that he be called ‘Aadharniya [respectful] Basanagoud’ so that he may skip the queue.
Others who deviated from the Speaker’s instructions while taking oath included Gali Janardhana Reddy, an Independent MLA and former BJP minister, who entered the assembly after a decade-long absence. Reddy took oath in the name of “Anjanadri” or the Anjanadri Hill, the birthplace of Lord Hanuman in Koppal district.
Several others took oath in the names of their deities and the people of their constituency.
A few Congress members, however, objected to first-time Dalit MLA Bhagirathi Murulya for taking oath in the name of local deities, Satya Saramani, Satyapadinaru and Ammanavaru, her local deities. Murulya is a BJP MLA from Suliya in Dakshina Kannada.
She received support from Yatnal, who protested against the new legislator being “heckled” and said it was the Congress that had started the practice of taking oath in the name of people and local and personal deities.
The incident also saw angry reaction on Twitter, where a user, identified by the handle @vijeshetty, said, “When @DKShivakumar can take oath on the name of Ajjayya [his spiritual leader], why double standard for a less-privileged MLA Tulunad Daiva’s [deities of the Tulu-speaking people of coastal Karnataka] is been disrespected in every stage. Congress MLA should apologise @INCKarnataka. Kudos to Bhagirathi Murulya and Thank You @BasanagoudaBJP for the support.”
(Edited by Richa Mishra)
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