‘Wanted My Freedom Back’: KR Ramesh Kumar on Quitting as Speaker

Kumar had on Monday, 29 July resigned after the House adopted the confidence motion moved by CM BS Yediyurappa.

KR Ramesh Kumar had on Monday, 29 July resigned after the House adopted the confidence motion moved by Karnataka CM Yediyurappa.

(Photo: PTI) 

Former Karnataka Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar, who carried out two trust votes in the Assembly before stepping down from his post, spoke to BloombergQuint's Kaushik Vaidya on Wednesday, 31 July, about the decisions he made during the recent political crisis in the state, including the one to quit as the Speaker.

Asserting that he had worked according to his "conscience" and in accordance with the Constitution during his 14-month-long tenure as the Speaker, Kumar said "I have upheld the dignity of office to the best of my ability.”

Kumar had on Monday, 29 July resigned after the House adopted the confidence motion moved by Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa and passed the Appropriation Bill.

Stating that he wanted to be a “free man”, Kumar on Wednesday told BloombergQuint that he “did not want to tie down myself to the office or remain glued to the seat.”

“I wanted to liberate myself... I should feel free to express my views. As Speaker there are restrictions on you, modesty demands that you should conceal your identity, suppress everything.. you can’t be free.. you can’t associate with anything that is political in nature.. I just wanted to get back my freedom, and so I have taken the decision.”

KR Ramesh Kumar

Kumar’s resignation came amid reports of the BJP mulling a no-confidence motion against him.

The three-day-old BJP government headed by Yediyurappa had on Monday proved its majority in the truncated state Assembly, winning the confidence motion by a voice vote.

Kumar hinted at being caught-up in the crossfire between the then Congress-JD(S) government in the state and the BJP, which was in Opposition at that time. The Kumaraswamy government kept stalling the trust vote, while the BJP kept trying to hurry the process, he said.

Kumar also claimed that the Supreme Court order on the pending resignation of rebel MLAs didn’t provide relief to anyone.