Karnataka Governor TC Gehlot cuts address short, Siddaramaiah calls him 'Centre’s puppet'

Karnataka Governor Thawarchand Gehlot on Thursday confined his customary address to the state legislature to just two lines, prompting a strong response from Chief Minister Siddaramaiah who accused the former of delivering his own speech rather than the government prepared one and also dubbed him a "puppet" of the Centre.

In the third governor vs government face-off in two days in three non-BJP ruled southern states, the others being Kerala and Tamil Nadu, Gehlot walked out after his short address to the Legislative Assembly and Council, amid protest by ruling Congress members who also attempted to gherao him.

The governor began the speech by greeting the CM, Assembly Speaker U T Khader, Council Chairman Basavaraj Horatti, Leaders of Opposition, ministers and members.

"I am happy to address one more joint session of the Karnataka legislature. My government is fully committed to double the speed of economic, social and physical development of the state. Jai Hind. Jai Karnataka," he said in Hindi, before proceeding out.

Congress members expressed strong displeasure over the governor walking away without reading the speech prepared by the government, and raised "Shame Shame" slogans on the floor of the House.

While seemingly defending the governor, BJP members shouted "Bharat Mata ki Jai".

Gehlot's action drew a sharp response from CM Siddaramaiah, who charged him with failing to deliver his constitutional responsibilities and duties.

As Gehlot was leaving, some Congress members including MLC B K Hariprasad tried to gherao him by shouting slogans. They were removed by the security staff.

Accusing the governor of reading his own speech instead of the one prepared by the state government, Siddaramaiah later alleged that the former did not stick to constitutional mandates.

The governor has violated the Constitution by not reading out the full speech prepared by the government, and acted like a "puppet" in the hands of the central government, he charged.

"Every new year, the governor has to address the joint session and he has to read the speech prepared by the state cabinet. That is constitutional. Because, Article 176 of the Constitution and Article 163 say he or she -- the Governor--shall read the speech prepared by the government or the cabinet," Siddaramaiah told reporters here.

"Today, instead of reading the speech prepared by the cabinet, he spoke the speech prepared by himself. This is against the provisions of the Indian Constitution. It clearly violates article 176 and 163. Therefore it is not going to be the speech of the Governor. He has not discharged his duties as per the Constitution. He has not discharged his responsibilities as prescribed by the Indian Constitution," the CM lashed out.

"Therefore, we are going to protest against the attitude of the governor. We are examining whether to approach the Supreme Court or not. We will let you know," he added.

Gehlot's brief appearance follows a tense standoff between the Lok Bhavan and the Congress government-- the latest in a series of confrontations involving the elected governments and the Lok Bhavan in non-BJP ruled states.

On Tuesday, Tamil Nadu Governor R N Ravi walked out of the state Assembly without delivering his customary address to the House on the opening day of its inaugural session of the year, claiming "inaccuracies" in the text.

Similarly, his Kerala counterpart Rajendra Viswanath Arlekar had allegedly "omitted" portions of his speech, with the Lok Bhavan claiming his suggestions had been excluded from the original draft.

Gehlot had on Wednesday refused to deliver the customary address, taking exception to certain references to the Centre "repealing" the UPA-era MGNREGA.

A total of 11 paragraphs in the government prepared speech, which allegedly makes critical reference to the Centre and its policies, touching upon the MGNREGA and issues including devolution of funds seem to have irked the governor, who wanted them to be deleted.

This was not acceptable to the government.

A delegation led by minister K H Patil had met Gehlot in a bid to break the impasse.