KR Ramesh Kumar: Karnataka Speaker, a jovial arbiter, finds himself in unfamiliar terrain

BENGALURU: After the JDS and Congress formed a coalition government last year, senior Congress MLA KR Ramesh Kumar, 69, was obvious choice for Speaker. The BJP fielded senior MLA S Suresh Kumar to force an election but when his party withdrew from contest, he was much relieved as the two Kumars share a rapport.

Ramesh Kumar first became Speaker when Janata Dal was in power, from 1995 to 1999. He did ample justice to his post by encouraging the opposition Congress and BJP MLAs in the House to hold ministers accountable, apart from keeping the assembly debates lively with his jokes and anecdotes. Well-read and articulate, Kumar has often silenced critics with convincing arguments which copiously referred to laws, procedures and literature.

This is the first time that his action has come under intense scrutiny. With a bitterly divided assembly, defections, sections of MLAs distrusting each other and speculation of horse-trading, it may not be the best time to be a Speaker. BJP, which had words of praise for Kumar after his election, has not been so kind recently to the sixth-term MLA elected on a Congress ticket from Kolar district’s Srinivasapur.

“This is not the Ramesh Kumar we know. He had cultivated an image of being sensitive and responsive. That image has suffered a bit after his action today,” claimed BJP’s Suresh Kumar referring to the Speaker’s decision not to immediately act on MLAs’ resignations.

A science graduate and farmer, Ramesh Kumar speaks fluent English and Telugu, apart from Kannada. He shot into limelight as health minister in the Siddaramaiah government after he proposed a law to jail doctors convicted of medical negligence. The bill had to be dropped after doctors protested. Ironically, Kumar himself has switched parties — from Congress to Janata and back — in his 45-year political career.