Bengaluru: An announcement on elections to BBMP on July 28 has left officers in the legislature secretariat in a fix on whether a legislator could raise issues related to the city civic body during the monsoon session commencing in Belagavi on Monday.
Though Chairman of the Legislative Council, D.H. Shankaramurthy, said staff at the secretariat of upper House would screen questions related to Bengaluru considering the code of conduct, the officers seem to be in a state of confusion on whether or not to accept notices of MLCs which are directly or indirectly related to Bengaluru.
Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, Mr Sreesha, secretary, Legislative Council, said, “there is confusion as to allow notice for discussion or not. If the House rejects the member’s request, it is more like curtailing the rights. Though the Legislative Council has the power to accept any notice for discussion or not, the government should be more cautious while replying to any notice moved by members relating to development of Bengaluru.”
Meanwhile Mr Sreesha has contacted commissioner of State Election Commission (SEC) P.N. Srinivasachari for clarification on the code of conduct. However, the official left it to the government to take a call on the issue. The secretariat has already sent notices and questions to departments concerned, and in turn the departments have sent the replies.
It is left to the Council to allow members to take up a discussion or not. Moreover few general subjects are also directly related to the code of conduct. Any announcement or assurance given by the state government on a particular issue would directly influence the voters, it is more interesting how the state government will act in such circumstance, official sources said.
