Belagavi: Pro-tem Legislative Council Chairman, Basavaraj Horatti of the Janata Dal (S) got a little teary eyed on Wednesday as he handed over charge to new Chairman, Pratap Chandra Shetty of the Congress, in the House.
It had been presumed for the last six months that Mr Horatti would move from being pro-tem to full term Legislative Council Chairman, but everything changed on the day of the results of the five states, as
the Congress party in Karnataka staked claim to the post.
Handing over charge, Mr Horatti made no attempt to hide his disappointment. “There is no doubt that I am sentimentally attached to this post. I thought I would be elected Council chairman, but I learnt that Congress leader, S. R. Patil was also in the race. It was a surprise to both of us when you (Mr Shetty) were selected by your party. I have not yet recovered from my surprise. Anyway, I wish you all the best,” he said Speaking to reporters outside the Legislative Council later Mr Horatti was more direct, saying Chief Minister, H. D. Kumarswamy should stop being subservient to the Congress and assert his authority. “I have told Mr Kumarswamy to stop being just a rubber stamp of the Congress. JD(S) Supremo, H. D. Deve Gowda himself called me on December 10 at around 11:30 pm asking me to file my nomination for the post and as I was doing so, S. R. Patil came in, saying he too had been asked to file his nomination. He was accompanied by Mr Shetty. Suddenly Mr Gowda called me up to tell me that I should not file my nomination and when Mr Patil was getting ready to file his, Mr Shetty’s phone rang and he was asked to file his nomination. All of this has left me surprised,” he said.
“Yes, I am human, I too have aspirations. I wanted to be the Chairman and I was expecting it too,” he admitted.
