HD Deve Gowda rue’s recalcitrant events in Rajya Sabha says he is disgusted

HD Deve Gowda said he was not allowed to speak because of the riot in Rajya Sabha. (File)

Bengaluru:

Former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda on Sunday regretted the recalcitrant scenes at the Rajya Sabha and the waste of the recent parliamentary session with no debates on issues affecting people, saying he hadn’t seen anything like it in his 30 years as a parliamentarian.

After the August 11 monsoon session concluded, he met opposition leaders and asked them what they had achieved as none of the people-related issues were discussed, Mr Gowda said.

“I was not allowed to speak during the monsoon session because of the riot from members of the ruling and opposition parties. No business was done and the session was wasted,” the JD (S) leader told reporters at the party office in Bengaluru.

Regarding the unruly behavior of the parliamentarians in the Rajya Sabha, he said: “I am disgusted by the behavior of the ruling party as well as the members of the opposition … The people danced on the table in the fountain of the house. For 30 years as a member of parliament, I have never had an incident like this experienced.”

Such behavior is not good for society because it shows the decline of democratic values ​​and is an insult to the great people who have fought for the freedom of the country, he said.

Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu suspended four MPs from the Trinamool Congress on August 4 for causing an uproar over the Pegasus espionage issue.

Mr Gowda said his party would cauvéry after the legislature closed on 24th.

He said Karnataka’s chief minister Basavaraj Bommai had spoken to NCP chief Sharad Pawar and other BJP leaders to seek a solution to the dispute over the water division between Krishna and Mahadayi between the state and Maharashtra.

Regarding the Mekedatu issue, he said some Tamil Nadu leaders he spoke to had advocated a reservoir on the Cauvery River near Hogenakkal on the Karnataka-Tamil Nadu border rather than Mekedatu in Ramanagara district.

“A reservoir at Hogenakkal would mean covering a large catchment area while the catchment area at Mekedatu is small,” said Gowda.

The former prime minister said only a regional team like JD (S) could find a solution to these two river water disputes and not a national party.

He said congressional leader Rahul Gandhi had to “run and do an extra mile” to improve his political skills and wondered what he had accomplished when he recently held a bicycle rally to protest rising fuel prices.

When asked about his recent meeting with Mr. Bommai, Mr. Gowda said that he had assured him of support on a number of issues.