BJP-JD(S) win Dy Chairman’s post in Karnataka Legislative Council

Bengaluru, Jan 29 : On a day when Janata Dal (Secular) Supremo H. D. Deve Gowda said he would not attend President Kovind’s address to Parliament, his party in Karnataka cemented its alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) winning the Deputy Chairman’s post in the Karnataka Legislative Council on Friday.
M. K. Pranesh, the BJP’s candidate was elected the Deputy Chairman of the Karnataka Legislative Council. The election was necessitated following the demise of S. L. Dharme Gowda of the JD(S) on December 29, 2020.
Pranesh won the election 41:24 as the JD(S) backed the BJP sealing an alliance that would help the passage of contentious bills, including the ‘Anti-Cow Slaughter Bill’, for which the BJP took the ordinance route.
After his victory, speaking in the Legislative Council, M. K. Pranesh said he had mixed feelings of joy and pain given the circumstances of the election, following the death of his predecessor Dharme Gowda.
“Dharme Gowda was a successful politician. He worked so hard and succeeded, too, in his own way. I have filled the place of someone like that. I am really happy — but at the same time there is pain that it happened in this way,” Pranesh said.
Pranesh also stressed that everyone needs to forget the December 15 unruly episode in the Council and find a new path going ahead. “We should not get into blame-game for what happened on that day. We all need to be responsible and I seek members’ support in this regard,” he added.