“Speaker of the legislature is supposed to be the friend of the opposition parties. However, it is a challenge to coordinate with the opposition parties, as they suspect the Speaker to be part of the government. As such, Speaker does not belong to any party. He resigns from the party when he is elected as the Speaker of the legislature,” said U. T. Khader, Speaker of Karnataka Legislative Assembly.

He was speaking during a live phone in programme at Radio Sarang, St Aloysius College (Autonomous) on Monday, July 31.

Mr Khader said that the post of the Speaker is an honourable post. While any MLA can be a minister, not everyone can be a Speaker. “It is a very responsible post and hence, the Speaker has to always to be watchful about his actions,” he added.

On being asked if his post does not hamper developmental works in his constituency, Mr Khader said that it was not an issue. “I can still work for my constituency. I can approach the concerned officials and make sure that developmental works go on in my constituency,” he said.

Replying to a suggestion by a listener to take measures to implement the ban on single use plastic, Mr Khader said that he would definitely bring this issue to the attention of the concerned ministers in the government.

Another listener from Konaje which comes under Mr Khader’s constituency drew attention to the poor condition of the road in his area. Mr Khader said that he would bring the matter to the attention of the chairman of the local Grama Panchayat.

Mr Khader expressed his satisfaction about the interaction with the listeners. He also promised to request the government of Karnataka to address the issues of Karnataka community radios, particularly their financial sustainability.