Bengaluru: Amidst the growing political crisis in Karnataka, Assembly Speaker Ramesh Kumar found himself embroiled in a controversy after he compared himself to a rape survivor in the audio clip issue after he underwent repeated questioning. On Wednesday, he expunged his own remarks and sought pardon.
After his remarks made waves, women MLAs, including Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy’s wife Anitha Kumaraswamy, met him and conveyed their disapproval. Following this, the Speaker on Wednesday expunged his own remarks and sought pardon from them.
He said that he had no intention to cause any pain to the women party members. “I’m directing my office to expunge all the comments made circumstantially from the records. I am clarifying that I had no intention to cause any pain to any woman from the Chair… If anyone has felt so, kindly pardon me…all of you are like mothers and sisters. Ihave always respected you and continue to do so,” the Speaker said.
Women MLAs who met Kumar are Anjali Nimbalkar, Roopa Kala Shashidhar, Kaneez Fatima, Lakshmi Hebbalkar, Sowmya Reddy, Vinisha Niro and Anitha Kumaraswamy. Their move comes after they were criticised for being silent when the Speaker had made the statement. Responding to this, many women MLAs expressed their displeasure about the Speaker’s comment and said it could have been avoided.
“His (Speaker) situation may be so because of the humiliation he is made to undergo because of repeated reference to charges, but the way it was put across was not right,” BJP MLA Shashikala Jolle said.
Vinisha Niro and Lakshmi Hebbalka defended the Speaker and said he did not intend to insult women and that his comments should have been avoided.
He further blamed the media for adding masala to his remarks. “As I made this statement a few of them laughed and few in the media have termed it as causing disgrace to women. For the last two days media had not got any masala, they too have to lead life right, so they are doing this,” he said
The speaker made the controversial remarks on Tuesday over a SIT probe into the audio clip released by Chief Minister Kumaraswamy. The clip involves BJP chief B S Yeddyurappa in a purported conversation to lure a JD(S) MLA in an alleged attempt to topple the Congress-JDS government. The Chief Minister had thereafter announced an SIT probe into the matter.
The audio also mentions that the Speaker had been booked for Rs 50 crore for a favourable ruling in case the ruling coalition MLAs resigned and the anti-defection law provisions are invoked against them.