Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (VP)
Mangaluru, Jul 10: MLC Manjunath Bhandary criticized MLA Bharath Shetty over his 'slap remark' and said that Bharath Shetty should understand his role as an MLA and follow the protocol.
Addressing the media on Wednesday, July 10, at the Congress office in Mallikatte, he said, "Dr Bharath Shetty should reveal if someone has promised to elevate him to a good post if he speaks such things regarding Rahul Gandhi. The Gandhi family has contributed significantly to this country for 5-6 generations. We have heard the kind of language Bharath Shetty uses, and they say we should enter the parliament with weapons. I want to ask, are you a terrorist to take weapons? Bharath Shetty should understand his role as an MLA and follow the protocol. The MLAs of Dakshina Kannada are causing disrespect to the people of the district, and he should explain why he is using such words.
"In the parliamentary system, the leader of the opposition holds a constitutional post. When a majority of 10% is available to a party, the post of Leader of the Opposition is given. The leader of the opposition is considered a shadow prime minister and is involved in serious discussions regarding future policy. For a long time, the post of Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha was vacant, and during that time, the prime minister and the speaker decided who would speak and for how long. Once the leader of the opposition is appointed, he can express his feelings clearly in the parliament, and the main power of the LoP is to be the voice of the people. For such a leader, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is saying 'Balak Buddhi’.
"Rahul Gandhi has won five times in Lok Sabha elections, yet the BJP party insists on insulting him. Rahul Gandhi spoke in parliament in front of everyone and discussed how parliament and elections happened in the past, and he spoke on how the Congress party progressed in this election. The RSS and the BJP party ideologues are not Hindus because Hindus love everyone and are above caste, culture, and creed. They always love and support everyone. The BJP's Hindutva is filled with hatred, while we, as Hindus, mingle with everyone, unlike the BJP party whose sole purpose is to win elections.
"How can we call such people Hindus? BJP party members stated that Lord Jagannath is a devotee of Modi. On the other hand, the MLAs of Dakshina Kannada speak about holding police collars, and another MLA speaks ill of Rahul Gandhi. The Gandhi family has worked a lot for this country for 5-6 generations. We should talk about someone with respect. We have held protests everywhere, and the Congress party is peace-loving. I request the police department to inspect where they have stored the weapons because using weapons without a license is an offense. Such statements only create problems in society, and we plan to go to the home minister and complain about Bharath Shetty.
"Rahul Gandhi spoke about ED, CBI, and the BJP party losing many seats. Today, the BJP party is standing on the legs of Chandrababu Naidu and Nitish Kumar, and very soon, this coalition will collapse. Previously, politicians wanted a strong opposition party, but the BJP party does not want any opposition and intends to create an atmosphere of dictatorship and create problems for the people. We expected Narendra Modi to speak about existing problems, but in his speech, he only spoke about the Congress party and acted as if he is contesting elections again. The Prime Minister did not address development issues and always spoke about corruption, but the infrastructure failure in many newly built projects shows the BJP party's corruption,” he said.
J B Bava, Praveen Chandra Alva, Shahul Ameen, Praveen Kumar, Lawrence D'Souza, Shalet Pinto, Suhan Alva, Neeraj, and others were present.