Questioning the propriety of some Congress legislators embarking on a foreign tour at a time when the State Budget is being prepared, Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashok on Thursday suspected that they were going abroad to take a call on the leadership tussle in the Congress government. He argued Speaker U.T. Khader to intervene and stop the tour.
Why not all parties?
Addressing a press conference in Bengaluru, Mr. Ashok referred to Animal Husbandry Minister K. Venkatesh taking a team of Congress legislators on a foreign trip. “If the legislators were going on a foreign trip, members from all parties used to be included in the delegation. If the Minister is taking only some along, how did the government give permission? The Speaker should stop this,” he said.
Ridiculing the legislators’ statement that they were going on a study tour by bearing the expenses themselves, he questioned what kind of study was being done and why personal money was being spent on it. “If a study is done, a report must be submitted to the government afterwards,” he said.
Suspecting that the foreign trip was related to the leadership tussle, Mr. Ashok alleged that the Congress legislators were going on foreign trips for fun when the government hospitals did not have money to buy even medicines.
He alleged that the government was trying to cover up alleged corruption in the Excise Department. He questioned Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s silence though the State government had not ordered any investigation into the allegations.
Suresh’s statement
Mr. Ashok maintained that Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar’s brother D.K. Suresh had raised a banner of revolt now by saying that power was being given by the Congress to those who “came from other parties.” Original Congress members had become directionless, he said.
Published – February 12, 2026 08:07 pm IST
