Speaker helping BJP retain Sriramulu

BANGALORE:  Even four days after Bellary Rural MLA B Sriramulu submitted his resignation, Speaker K G Bopaiah is yet to approve of it.Though, Bopaiah who accepted the resignation has been maintaining that he was still verifying Sriramulu’s resignation, the Opposition parties are accusing him of intentionally causing the delay only to facilitate the on-going efforts by the BJP to persuade Sriramulu to reconsider his decision.Sriramulu had submitted his resignation on Sunday night to Bopaiah at his residence in Kodagu.Though the Speaker is not bound by any deadline to accept the resignation of an MLA, the Opposition parties feel that the formers action is politically motivated. To defend their accusation they pointed at previous incidents where Bopaiah accepted the resignations of MLAs who were victims of Operation Lotus within no time.While accepting the resignation of Opposition MLAs who resigned to join the ruling BJP, Bopaiah showed unwarranted hurry. There are instances when he accepted the resignations within minutes of submission. But now he is taking his own time only because Sriramulu is from the ruling party, said JD(S) spokesman YSV Datta while accusing Bopaiah of lowering the dignity of the office he is holding.“Bopaiah has lost the sensitivity and one can see discrimination in all his actions. We were hoping to see some changes in his functioning after the Supreme Court’s observation on his decision to disqualify 16 MLAs, but nothing seems to have changed,” Datta said.KPCC president G Parameshwara also questioned the Speaker’s action and urged him to accept Sriramulu’s resignation immediately. There cannot be two-yardsticks. Like his party, Bopaiah is also adopting double standards, Parameshwar charged.When contacted by Express, Speaker K G Bopaiah said that he had sent the resignation letter to his secretariat for its verification and he will ensure that he makes his decision public on         Thursday.