Ramanagara MLA Iqbal Hussain’s plea for development of his constituency on an urgent basis triggered a war of words between ruling party members and former Deputy Chief Minister C.N. Ashwathnarayan in the Legislative Assembly on Monday.
Speaking during a discussion on Budget, Mr. Hussain said although five Chief Ministers and one Prime Minister were elected from his constituency, people are struggling to get basic amenities. “Even today, people in my constituency get water supply once in nine days. There is no proper underground drainage system and people are deprived of Cauvery water,” he said.
“Over 60,000 people were severely hit during last year’s floods. Although former Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, Mr. Ashwathnarayan and the then MLA H.D. Kuamraswamy who visited the area promised relief, the affected people have not got a single paisa so far,” he alleged.
Provoked by this, Mr. Ashwathnarayan asked the member to question the present Deputy Chief Minister (D.K. Shivakumar) whose home district is Ramanagara.
“During our tenure, we approved a ₹450-crore Cauvery drinking water project. We got a medical college sanctioned. But, now that is snatched away to benefit another constituency. Ask your government about this,” he said.
There was chaos when other Congress members and Ministers, including B.Z. Zameer Ahmed Khan, shot back at the former Deputy Chief Minister alleging that he had not done anything for the constituency. Speaker U.T. Khader intervened and brought the House in order.
