Bangalore, July 17: Karnataka Legislative Assembly Deputy Speaker K G Bopaiah today rejected an Opposition plea for an adjournment motion on the alleged grant of special funds to five assembly constituencies where byelections will be held shortly. Raising the issue after question hour Congress Leader D K Shiva Kumar alleged that the Government had granted special grants of Rs 38 crore and Rs seven crore to Govindarajnagar and Channapatna respectively from where the elected Congress representatives had quit the party to join the BJP. It amounted to electoral malpractice and the Government should withdraw the order issued to this effect, he demanded. Opposition leader Siddaramaiah too endorsed his views and urged the Deputy Speaker to admit the adjournment motion. Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Suresh Kumar contended that the issue was not of recent occurence and did not come under the purview of the adjournment motion sought to be raised by the Opposition. The Deputy Speaker, after hearing both the sides, withheld his consent to the notice.
—-Agencies