He also asserted that electing the council chairman and assembly speaker is the prerogative of the House, not the high command of a political party.
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This development followed a letter from the Congress high command to CM Shivakumar on Monday approving Saleem Ahmed as the nominee for chairman of the state legislative council and Umashree for deputy chairperson, along with the list of ministers who were sworn in on August 3.
The party had also approved the names of G S Patil as the nominee for the post of speaker of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly and A S Ponnanna for deputy speaker.
“The chief minister called me and requested that I resign and cooperate to prevent embarrassment, as the party has sent the name (for the new chairman)…. I will discuss this with opposition leaders and decide,” Horatti told reporters on Tuesday.
Horatti, an eight-time MLC, has his current term till July 2028.Asserting that the chairman of the council and speaker of the assembly can only be elected by the House and not by the high command of any party, Horatti said, “This is probably the first time I have seen a party declaring the chairperson of the legislative council. I’m not sure how they are doing it. It is not good in democracy.”
“To remove the chairman, 10 members must give 14 days’ advance notice, to move the no-confidence motion. Based on the discussion in the House, the matter will be decided,” he said, adding that the decision of the House is supreme on this matter.
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Pointing out that no chairperson has had to resign since 1956, and all of them have completed their term, Horatti said there were no grounds to remove him.
In the 75-member legislative council, the Congress has 38 members, BJP 24, JD(S) 6, with one Independent member and one chairman, while five seats are vacant.
