Ministers busy, Council adjourns

bangalore: the legislative council was adjourned for 10 minutes on friday because there were no senior ministers and officials to hear the opposition. after question hour, council chairman b.l. shankar asked opposition leader k.h. srinivas to initiate discussion on the budget. however, b.s. horatti (jd-u) said senior ministers were absent as also treasury bench members.d.h. shankar murthy (bjp) took exception to the absence of seniors, specially officials from the finance department. srinivas said nearly three seats in the front row of the treasury benches are vacant. other ministers are like guest artistes. ``if you still want me to speak, i will do so by looking at the sky.'''' shankar said house leader h.k. patil had sought some time as he was in the assembly replying to questions on his department. he too took exception to the absence of officials. ``nearly 50 passes were issued to the finance department. this was not expected. i am not in a position to request the opposition leader to speak in this situation,'''' he said and adjourned the house for 10 minutes. when the house reassembled patil said he was held up in the assembly. ``officials would be told to manage their time between the two houses and their office,'''' he added.