Horticulture Minister R Shankar struggles to explain Bill as Congress stages walk out

Horticulture Minister R Shankar found himself in an awkward situation on Friday, as Congress MLCs staged a walkout from the Legislative Council over a Bill that he could not explain properly.

The University of Horticulture Sciences (Amendment) Bill seeks to reduce the number of members in the Board of Management of the University by dropping one farmer. Apart from the preliminary information, the newly-appointed minister was unable to provide a detailed context to the Bill.

While he explained that the amendment was suggested by the ICAR and it was not the state government's call, confusion prevailed as the Congress MLCs questioned how a farmer could be dropped from the Board. Not satisfied by the minister's explanation, the Congress leaders staged a walkout, calling it an "anti-farmer" move.

JD(S) MLC Srikante Gowda criticised the BJP for being unable to defend their stance. "The ICAR is an autonomous body like the UGC and the state government is bound to follow its directions. You did not know how to defend this position," he said.

The Bill was eventually passed with the support of the JD(S).