BJP members demanded an apology from Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy for allegedly ‘insulting’ BJP chief BS Yeddyurappa. Referring to a statement made by Kumaraswamy on Wednesday, Yeddyurappa stated that it was insulting of the chief minister to suggest that he had egged bank managers on, to not cooperate with the government regarding the farm loan waivers. After BJP members staged a protest in the Assembly on Thursday, the session was adjourned.
"Discussions on loan waiver were going on. But the State government wasn't ready to reply properly. When I asked about nationalised bank loan waiver issue, he (Kumaraswamy) wasn't ready to reply properly and behaved arrogantly. We condemn the Chief Minister's arrogant behaviour, we have told speaker he must apologise for his arrogant behaviour and then reply about loan waiver properly," Yeddyurappa said to the media on Wednesday following the CM’s comments.
On Thursday, the chief minister condemned the BJP and alleged that the party leaders were deliberately trying to delay the farm loan waiver scheme using their ties with national banks. He further added that if the banks continued showing an indifferent attitude, the government would not wait and would find alternative means.
Following the protest staged by the BJP, the speaker Ramesh Kumar questioned Yeddyurappa saying, “Your party members are staging a protest and you are making a speech. How can it become part of the proceedings?” He further chided the BJP chief saying that he should have used the same platform to question the chief minister, instead of protesting.
The speaker adjourned the House for 20 minutes following the protest, hoping to allow for things to settle down. But the House was ultimately adjourned for the day after he realized that the party workers were not willing to cooperate.