Karnataka: Despite 60 per cent attendance in assembly, Covid-19 fear stalks legislators

BENGALURU: With three legislators' demise, two of whom were a sitting MLA and MP - B Satyanarayana and Ashok Gasthi, attributed to Covid-19, the palpable fear and angst over the pandemic was witnessed in the faces of the Karnataka legislators on day one of the monsoon session.
Though the attendance recorded a 60 per cent presence the house wore a rather distant and deserted look.
Amid the face shields, masks and gloves, apart from the added feature of a clear glass partition between any two chairs or an empty chair to have social distancing, the monsoon session got off to a dreary start with a condolence message for 16 individuals who made their presence felt in the society.
However what captured the mood was that of legislators cutting across party lines lamenting on the significant impact the pandemic had on everyone’s lives.
“When I see the deaths of these two legislators, one of whom is Ashok Gasthi who did not even enter the Rajya Sabha for a single day apart from taking oath, it shows how inhumane the virus is. In fact, Gasthi’s wife and daughter who are both positive for the virus could not attend his funeral,”said Siddaramaiah during his condolence speech.
The former CM went on to add his own experience of fighting the virus after almost all his family members and help in his home tested positive.
“That is the reason why I say that those who have escaped this virus, remain safe by practicing social distancing, wearing a mask and sanitising your hands. But those who have contracted the virus, remain calm and fight it,” he said.
BJP Thirthalli MLA Araga Jnanedra said the demise of JD(S) ex-MLA from Bhadravathi Appaji Gowda was a wake up call to all public representatives.
“Death is incidental but dying due to Covid-19 is not. Somewhere, I believe that Gowda’s death could have been avoided as he continued to be gung-ho and did not take adequate precautionary measures while participating in public events,” he said.
Earlier, the house saw as many as 139 legislators sign in the registry on Monday with all of them taking adequate precautions by wearing gloves, a mask and even using the brand new face shields provided by the legislature.