Hirekop Rajan Samuel

Belagavi, 18 June

Amid mounting woes over the Cabinet expansion, the Karnataka government under DK Shivakumar is likely to drop its plan to convene the monsoon session of the State Legislature in Belagavi and instead hold the session in Bengaluru, sources said. 

Former chief minister Siddaramaiah’s government had planned to conduct the session in the second week of July. Although no formal notification as such was issued at the time, the Belagavi district administration had begun extensive preparations to hold the session. Traditionally, the State Legislature's 10-day winter session would be held at the Suvarna Vidhana Soudha in Belagavi every December, but Siddaramaiah had resolved to hold the Monsoon Session there as well, a boost to the KalyanaKarnataka region.

However, as Shivakumar assumed greater responsibility, the plan was put in abeyance, sources said. The sources noted that the immediate priority is the long-pending Cabinet expansion, and hence has leaned towards convening the session in Bengaluru. Now, with no fresh directions issued after the Siddaramaiah government’s statement, government officials believe that the proposal has effectively been dropped.

Notably, Legislative Council Chairman Basavaraj Horatti had also backed the proposal to hold the monsoon session in Belagavi.

Furthermore, Belagavi Deputy Commissioner Mohammed Roshan said that arrangements had already been initiated for logical requirements for Ministers and Legislators in anticipation for the session, but now it seems as if it should be abandoned.  Roshan noted that there were no complaints during the previous session.

Kannada organisations expressed disappointment over the development, noting that if the session was held in Belagavi, it could have helped address regional concerns.