Karnataka Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot on Thursday delivered a drastically shortened address to the state legislature, limiting his speech to just three lines. He read only the opening and closing sentences of the government-prepared address, skipping the main content entirely.
"I extend a warm welcome to all of you to the joint session of the State legislature. I am extremely pleased to address one more joint session of the Karnataka legislature. My government is firmly committed to doubling the pace of the state's economic, social and physical development. Jai Hind. Jai Karnataka," he said in Hindi.
Gehlot walked out of both the Legislative Assembly and Council after his brief speech, amid protests from Congress members who tried to surround him in the House. They also shouted slogans like ‘shame shame’ and "Dhikkara-Dhikkara, Rajyapalarige Dhikkara" (reproof to the Governor) in Kannada.
CM Siddaramaiah describes Gehlot as ‘puppet’
The move also drew sharp criticism from Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who accused the governor of presenting his own views instead of the prepared speech. The CM also described Gehlot as a "puppet" of the central government.
“The Hon'ble Governor is constitutionally obligated to deliver the Cabinet-approved address under Articles 176 and 163 of the Constitution. Any deviation from this mandate is unconstitutional and undermines the authority of the elected government. The Government of Karnataka condemns this conduct and will register its protest while examining appropriate legal remedies,” he said.
Earlier, it was reported that Gehlot had planned not to address the joint sitting of the state legislature scheduled for Thursday. A high-level delegation, led by Karnataka’s Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister HK Patil, met the Governor at Lok Bhavan to discuss the matter.
This incident marks the third confrontation between governors and non-BJP state governments in the past two days, following similar tensions in Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
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