Bengaluru: It was by no means a full house at the training programme for newly elected MLCs on Thursday as half gave it a miss. Seeing only six of the 12 new MLCs present, CM Siddaramaiah made his disapproval clear at the poor attendance but went on to give the ones, who had bothered to turn up, a pep talk on how to conduct themselves in the House .
Advising them to do their homework before coming to the Council, he said only this could make for more effective and meaningful debate. Inaugurating the programme, he also advised the new MLCs to remain inside the House and learn from their seniors participating in debates and discussions. " I have seen members in the Assembly and the Council doing everything but listening to debates. You must not go out unnecessarily and waste time. Stay inside the House and learn the art of speaking to become good parliamentarians," he told them.
While he had nothing against members pointing out the government’s fault, he said they should do so on the basis of evidence. “Arguing without documents is not a healthy thing to do. Members must make use of the forum to highlight people's problems and not for character assassination,” he said.
