Opposition walks out of Lok Sabha over Karnataka crisis

New Delhi, July 19: The opposition, including the Congress, DMK and TMC, on Friday walked out of the Lok Sabha over the Karnataka crisis, accusing the BJP of destabilizing the state government.

The MPs trooped out of the House during Zero Hour when Speaker Om Birla allowed Congress floor leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury to speak on the issue, but only for a few minutes.

Chowdhury said the opposition is hopeful that Home Minister Amit Shah would speak on the issue as an adjournment motion had been given. He accused the BJP of attempting to destabilize the elected state governments one by one in every state. "The conspiracy in this direction is continuing."

When the Speaker interrupted Chowdhury, the opposition members walked out of the House.

Earlier, the opposition raised the issue during question hour with members shouting slogans like "Save democracy" and "We want justice." DMK and the Congress MPs also trooped near the speaker's podium.

The speaker said as it was a state matter and the issue had already been raised during the Zero Hour in the past, it should not be raised again.

As the protest continued, the speaker urged the opposition members to return to their seats and promised to allow them to speak during the zero hour.

The political crisis in Karnataka has been deepening with many Congress and JDS MLAs resigning or siding with the BJP, the main opposition party, threatening the future of the HD Kumaraswamy-led government.