Congress sweeps Karnataka Assembly Speaker, Council Chairman posts

The Congress secured victory in the recent elections for the positions of Legislative Assembly Speaker and Legislative Council Chairman in Karnataka. G S Patil emerged victorious as the Speaker, while Saleem Ahmed was elected as the Chairman of the Legislative Council. Patil, a four-time MLA from Ron constituency, was proposed for the post by Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, with Deputy Chief Minister Dr G Parameshwara supporting his candidacy.

The election was conducted by pro tem Speaker T B Jayachandra after U T Khader resigned from the Speaker's post to join Shivakumar's Cabinet. The BJP and JD(S) had boycotted the Speaker's election.

On the other hand, MLC and Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president B K Hariprasad proposed Saleem Ahmed's name for the Council Chairman position, which was seconded by Leader of the House Dr Yathindra Siddaramaiah. Ahmed, a seasoned legislator, was first elected to the MLC in 1996 and has since been re-elected multiple times. During the election, the BJP had proposed P H Pujar for the post, with the JD(S) backing the proposal. After the voting, Ahmed was declared the winner.

Earlier in the day, the BJP staged a protest at the Vidhana Soudha premises, demanding that a woman be included in the state Cabinet. With 32 ministers in the Shivakumar-led Cabinet, all of whom are men, only one berth remains vacant. BJP MLA and former minister Shashikala Jolle criticized the government for not providing a woman berth in the Cabinet, stating that it was an insult to the women community.

She further added that the people of the state would teach the 'anti-women' Congress a suitable lesson in the coming days.