The special session of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly on Thursday (January 22) witnessed a sharp political confrontation after the Congress legislators blocked Governor Thawar Chand Gehlot as he was leaving the House after addressing the joint session. As per the Organiser reports, the Opposition, BJP, condemned the episode as an unacceptable breach of legislative decorum, accusing the ruling party of turning the Assembly into a site of political intimidation against a constitutional authority.
Leader of the Opposition R. Ashoka described the incident as a black day for democracy and said the governor was treated with open disrespect despite merely performing his constitutional role. Speaking to reporters at Vidhana Soudha, he insisted the governor followed procedure, delivering his address, thanking the House, and exiting before being allegedly obstructed. “He acted as per the Constitution. What exactly is the offense in that?” Ashoka asked.
Ashoka further stated that the governor cannot be dictated to by the government or legislators on how to conduct the address, including whether to read the full text. He asserted that attempting to pressure or corner the governor undermines constitutional boundaries and sets a dangerous precedent, warning that such conduct damages the dignity of the House and erodes public faith in democratic institutions.
R. Ashoka alleged that Congress legislators physically blocked the governor’s path and created disorder as he attempted to leave, calling the conduct hooliganism. He claimed the ruling party turned the special session into a spectacle, saying the manner in which the House was handled was shameful and amounted to an insult to the dignity of the Assembly and the constitutional office of the Governor.
Demanding immediate action, Ashoka said the BJP would submit a formal representation to Assembly Speaker U.T. Khader, seeking disciplinary measures against the legislators involved. He argued that those who allegedly disrespected the governor on the House floor should face the harshest punishment, including expulsion. Ashoka also accused the Congress of hypocrisy, noting that the same governor had previously approved several state bills, asking why he was acceptable then but is now being targeted with what he called staged outrage.
The governor reads only closing lines; BJP claims draft was tweaked to drop ‘Ram’ reference
The row erupted after Governor Thawarchand Gehlot, during his address to the joint session, read only the opening and concluding portions of the speech, rather than delivering the full text drafted by the state government. He welcomed the Chief Minister, Speaker, and members; briefly referred to the government’s commitment to economic, social, and intellectual development; ended with “Jai Hind, Jai Karnataka”; and then left the House. Congress legislators immediately objected, accusing the governor of ignoring the Cabinet-approved address, and the protest soon turned disorderly, with allegations that some ruling-party members tried to prevent him from exiting.
The BJP alleged that the state government had altered the official name of the Centre’s recently proposed rural employment framework, popularly referred to in reports as VB-G Ram G / G-RAM-G, claiming the Ram reference had been changed or removed from the text supplied for the governor’s speech. Because a governor’s address becomes part of the Assembly’s official record, the Opposition called it a deliberate manipulation of a constitutional document for ideological messaging. Put together, the twin disputes, over forcing a governor to read a full political script and over allegedly editing a scheme name, have been framed by the BJP as proof that the Congress is willing to turn even constitutional proceedings into partisan theater.
The governor suggested deletions; Congress refused
The reports indicate the governor had suggested deleting certain portions of the address, but the Congress government allegedly did not accept those changes and still insisted on its original draft. That insistence, followed by chaos when the governor chose not to read the full text, has been projected by the Opposition as an attempt to dictate the governor’s role rather than respect constitutional boundaries. In effect, the government’s posture appeared to be: either the governor reads the entire political script prepared by the Cabinet, or he must be publicly cornered.
This is precisely why the incident matters beyond one session. If the governor flagged concerns and advised removing a few lines, the responsible course would have been dialogue, revision, and constitutional maturity, not confrontation on the House floor. When a ruling party tries to force a constitutional authority to endorse contested lines and then portrays the refusal as wrongdoing, it looks less like governance and more like manufactured outrage. Karnataka cannot afford to have institutions dragged into partisan battles; the Assembly should be a place of lawmaking, not a stage for pressuring constitutional offices.
When a senior leader like B.K. Hariprasad is caught on video making an aggressive hand gesture at the governor as he exits the House, it is a window into Congress’s growing contempt for constitutional discipline. The governor is not a rival MLA to be heckled; he is a constitutional authority. If leaders begin treating the Raj Bhavan and the Governor’s office like a political punching bag, they are eroding the institutions that protect democracy from mob rule.
