I Quit To Get My Freedom Back, Says Former Karnataka Speaker KR Ramesh

KR Ramesh Kumar, who quit as the speaker of Karnataka Legislative Assembly after the Congress-Janata Dal (Secular) alliance lost the trust vote, said he just wanted to be a “free man”.

“I wanted to liberate myself. I just did not want to tie down myself to the office and be glued to the seat,” Kumar told BloombergQuint.

After two trust votes during his tenure as the speaker, Kumar stepped down on July 29.

Proceedings were not in order, especially when it came to the trust vote of the Congress-JD(S) government, Kumar said. While the HD Kumaraswamy government at that time kept stalling the trust vote, seeking more time for discussions, the Bharatiya Janata Party, which was in the opposition at that time, kept trying to hurry the process, he said.

The former Speaker was also sent two letters by the Governor of Karnataka pushing for the floor test to be completed. The Supreme Court too issued directives to Kumar concerning the pending resignation of rebel MLAs. But, according to Kumar, the order gave relief to no one.

14 rebel MLAs were disqualified soon after the Congress-JD(S) government lost the trust vote, taking the total number of disqualifications to 17. Kumar said he took every decision with a “clear conscience”.

In his farewell speech to the Assembly, Kumar urged for a complete revamp of the Representation of Peoples Act. The 10th Schedule, Kumar said he took every decision with a “clear conscience”. said, in its current form, is not competent to achieve the objectives it intended to. The lack of scrutiny of affidavits filed by candidates nominated to the legislative assemblies or the Lok Sabha needs more attention, he said. To bring about electoral reforms, you require heart and will power, not money, he said.

You can watch the whole discussion here: