Assembly Speaker U.T. Khader, Karnataka Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot, and Legislative Council Chairperson Basavaraj Horatti at the joint session of the State legislature, at Vidhana Soudha in Bengaluru, on January 22, 2026.
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
The opposition BJP and JD(S) legislators staged a dharna in front of the Mahatma Gandhi statue on the Vidhana Soudha premises in Bengaluru on January 27 seeking the resignation of Excise Minister R.B. Thimmapur over alleged corruption and action against Congress legislators who allegedly misbehaved with the Governor of Karnataka during the joint session of the legislature.
The opposition leaders declared that they would continue to fight till the Minister resigns.
“The excise vendors’ association has estimated the corruption to be around ₹6,000 crore, and has decided to petition Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in this regard. We want to caution Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah that if he fails to sack the Minister, we may have to come to the conclusion that the Chief Minister himself is behind this corruption. Such a doubt has arisen as the supporters of the Excise Minister are saying that the Minister was allowed to handle only three districts,” said Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashok.
Addressing the protesters, Mr. Ashok termed the Congress government in Karnataka as a ‘goonda dispensation’, which he claimed was proved by the behaviour of Congress legislators during the address of the Governor to the joint session of the legislature. While seeking action against those who allegedly misbehaved with the Governor during the joint session, he also demanded that action be taken against Congress MLA Nara Bharat Reddy, whose supporters allegedly attacked BJP MLA G. Janardhan Reddy’s residence in Ballari.
BJP State unit President B. Y. Vijayendra demanded that the legislators who allegedly misbehaved with the Governor be suspended from the Houses.
Leader of Opposition in Legislative Council Chalavadi Narayanaswamy warned that the BJP-JD(S) combine would expose the alleged misdeeds of Congress MLC B.K. Hariprasad, while accusing him of misbehaving with the Governor.
JD(S) legislature party leader in the Assembly C. B. Suresh Babu remarked that people of Karnataka would teach a befitting lesson to the Congress government for ‘misgovernance’.
Published – January 27, 2026 02:26 pm IST
