The mood was sombre in the Legislative Assembly on Thursday as it had to take up obituary reference twice on the same day. While the House paid tributes to Minister of State for Railways Suresh Angadi in the morning, it took up obituary reference again in the evening as MLA for Basavakalyan B. Narayan Rao died.
Both the leaders succumbed to COVID-19. Just a few days ago, Rajya Sabha member Ashok Gasti died of COVID-19.
Elected representatives succumbing to COVID-19 has caused concern, and senior Congress member K.R. Ramesh Kumar appealed to Speaker Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri to direct the government to prevent large-scale weddings.
“Though there is a restriction on the number of people who can attend weddings, in reality several of them are seeing attendance of more than 500 people. Even beegara oota (feasts organised a day after wedding) is being attended by more than 500 people. This has to be curbed,” Mr. Kumar said. He pointed out that there is often compulsions on local legislators to attend such events.
He urged the government to direct the Deputy Commissioners and the Superintendents of Police to ensure that there is a thin attendance at weddings.
Meanwhile, members, cutting across party affiliations, paid rich tributes to Mr. Rao. Leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah said Mr. Rao, who hailed from the oppressed community of Koli Samaj, had come up the ladder through hard work. He remembered how Mr. Rao had travelled all the way from Bidar to Bengaluru on a bicycle as part of a jatha.
Bandeppa Kashempur of the JD(S) recalled that it was Mr. Rao’s dream to become an MLA once to raise the issue related to problems of his community who were still unable to find a firm financial footing.
