Bangalore: Karnataka Assembly has been witnessing high drama over the last few days. The Opposition added one more chapter on Monday when Congress and Janata Dal(Secular) MLAs spend the entire night inside the Assembly building to mount pressure on the state government for an investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into illegal mining in the state.
The Opposition MLAs, numbering 45, spent Monday night inside the Assembly refusing to leave till a CBI inquiry was ordered.
During Friday's Assembly session, MLAs came dangerously close to violence as the BJP government took on the Opposition over the controversial resignation of Lokayukta Santosh N Hegde.
The face-off continued on Monday as well, as opposition MLAs came to the Assembly wearing bright orange coloured mining helmets for "protection" from some ruling Bharatiya Janata Party members saying they had been threatened by some ruling party legislators including the Reddy brothers.
They are demanding the Reddy brothers and their supporters to be suspended for the rest of the session.
Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa assured the House that action will be taken against those indulging in illegal mining. He claimed that over three crore iron ore tons worth over Rs 12,000 crore has been illegally sent out of the country since 2003 and added that he will quit if he failed to put an end to plundering of the natural resources in the state.
"In 2009-10 alone, about 71 lakh tons of iron ore were illegally shipped out of Karnataka," he said.
Claiming that leaders of different political parties were directly or indirectly involved in illegal mining, he said only Centre could curb the menace through special legislation and appealed Opposition leaders to join a delegation to meet the prime minister on the issue.
(With inputs from PTI)
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