Siddaramaiah urges govt to convene Karnataka legislature session in Belagavi

Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly Siddaramaiah has urged the government to convene the legislature session immediately in the northern district of Belagavi to discuss a host of issues including COVID-19 management, financial situation, and corruption allegations.

The senior Congress leader on Tuesday wrote to Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa and Speaker Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri in this regard.

Noting that as per section 3 and 4 of The Karnataka Conduct of Government Business in the State Legislature Act, 2005, a session should have been called in July, Siddaramaiah said the government has not taken any steps for convening the session, in violation of rules.

”People of the state are facing several problems.

….the way the government managed the second wave of COVID resulted in anarchy and it was fatal for the people of the state,” he was quoted as saying in the letter, by his office in a statement released on Wednesday.

Pointing out that there are already fears of a third wave of COVID, the Congress Legislature Party leader said there is still no information from the government regarding the measures it has taken to tackle it.

He also accused the state government of not providing adequate relief or compensation to those affected by floods in the last two years and alleged it has completely neglected the agriculture sector. The congress leader also claimed the state government is facing serious corruption charges.

”Education sector is also in shambles, also there is increase in the incidents of rape against dalits and downtrodden women. Honour killings and suicides besides illegal mining have also increased,” he alleged.

Siddaramaiah said, as per the Karnataka Conduct of Government Business in the State Legislature Act, 2005, at least four sessions should be held in a year- 15 days in January, 20 in March, 15 in July and in November 10 days.

He said in 2020, the session was only held for 31 days, while in 2021 it has been held for just 20 days.

”After this government’s coming to power, session has not been held in Belagavi even once.This conduct of the government in violation of rules is unpardonable,” he said as he urged the government to immediately issue a notification convening the session.

Sessions have not been held in Belagavi in the last two years due to floods and COVID-19.

Belagavi in north Karnataka, bordering Maharashtra, has been hosting legislature sessions once a year since 2006.

Karnataka has constructed the Suvarna Vidhana Soudha, modelled on the Vidhana Soudha, the state secretariat in Bengaluru, for this purpose and it is also seen as an assertion that Belagavi is an integral part of Karnataka.

Maharashtra claims Belagavi belongs to it.