Bedlam in K'taka Assembly; Cong demands CBI probe against CM

BANGALORE: Chaotic scenes dominated the proceedings of Karnataka Assembly on Monday as the Opposition Congress twice resorted to dharna, demanding a CBI probe into the bribery charges levelled against Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy.

The house also witnessed an ugly scene when former Speaker Ramesh Kumar moved menacingly towards Tourism Minister D T Jayakumar, irked by a remark made against him that he was facing murder charges.

Ramesh Kumar moved into the well of the House to launch a dharna, promptly followed by his partymen.

As arguments went on, certain remarks of Jayakumar angered Ramesh Kumar who tried to rush towards the minister. However, D K Shivakumar (Cong) prevented him from doing so.

When Congress members resorted to shouting slogans demanding the resignation of the "corrupt" government and for a CBI probe, the Speaker adjourned the house for lunch.

Earlier, the house witnessed trading of charges between Transport Minister N Cheluvaraya Swamya and A Krishnappa of the Congress.

When the House re-assembled after the lunch break, the Congress called off the dharna folloiwng a plea by Home Minister M P Prakash, but re-launched it when the government rejected its demand for a CBI probe into the bribery charges made by BJP's Janardhana Reddy against Kumaraswamy.