Karnataka Assembly Speaker UT Khader on Monday adjourned the House and walked out over the insufficient number of written replies from government departments to MLAs' questions, prompting Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to pull up his ministers.
"How can it function this way? When questions are asked, there are no answers, not taking more than 15 in the calling attention motion; people don't come for the quorum. How do we function this way," Khader said before adjourning the proceedings.
"I had pointed this out a couple of days ago and given instructions from this chair. I had pointed this out five times. I'm not seeing any change. Then how do we run this House? Therefore, until the concerned minister and the secretaries give me an explanation for this, I won't run this Assembly and am adjourning this House," he said.
Following the walkout, Siddaramaiah wrote to ministers raising concern over delays by departments in responding to questions asked by MLAs in the Assembly.
In the letter, the Chief Minister pointed out that during the Assembly sitting held on March 16, only 90 out of 245 questions had received replies. Several questions from the 1st to the 9th sessions of the 16th Assembly (2023-2026) are still pending responses from departments.
The senior Congress leader noted that the delay in sending replies is causing inconvenience to legislators in raising and discussing issues in the House. He added that such lapses are also causing embarrassment to the government and affecting the dignity of the Assembly.
The chief minister has directed department secretaries to immediately explain why replies were not sent on time. He also instructed that in cases where responses remain pending, the concerned MLAs should be informed separately through a letter along with a timeline for providing the required information.
The issue has triggered sharp criticism from the opposition BJP.
Leader of Opposition R Ashok alleged that the situation reflects a deeper governance crisis. "This is not a mistake. This is not an administrative lapse. This is institutional arrogance and complete contempt for democracy. It exposes a deeper crisis - Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has completely lost control over his own Cabinet and the state bureaucracy," he said.
"When ministers cannot even prepare written replies to MLAs, it reflects a government that is disorganised, directionless and unaccountable," Ashok added.
Karnataka BJP president BY Vijayendra also criticised the government, stating that the legislature is the "temple of democracy" and that every unanswered question amounts to a betrayal of the people.
"Ministers who won't show up. Ministers who show up but bring no answers. An administration fast asleep while the state burns through its borrowed billions. A reconciliation meeting from the CM is not enough. An apology to the people of Karnataka is the bare minimum," Vijayendra said.
He further alleged that the Congress government has disrespected the Speaker's chair and dishonoured elected representatives, adding that "a government that cannot answer questions in the House has no moral right to remain in power."
