BENGALURU: The Karnataka legislative session that was scheduled to be held between October 14 to 26, has been rescheduled and shortened to barely three days. Owing to the announcement of bypolls to 15 Assembly seats and the model code of conduct being made effective in the state, the Karnataka cabinet, led by Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa, decided to cut short the session.
According to the new schedule, the House will sit in proceedings for three days between October 10 and 12. Passing of the Finance Bill will be the priority of the session. The CM, who on multiple occasions has insisted that rehabilitation and relief measures in more than 22 districts of Karnataka ravaged by floods will not be affected, will table the Bill and push for its passage.
So far, the state’s finances are running on a vote-on account presented by Yediyurappa after he took oath in July. In the three days, the BJP will seek to get the all-important Finance Bill passed, along with supplementary budgets. The cabinet has also decided to put the proposal for a separate district of Vijayanagara on the backburner.
CM Yediyurappa, after meeting a representation led by disqualified former MLA of Vijayanagara Anand Singh, seeking bifurcation of Ballari and carving out a new district, had issued a proposal to take up the matter in the cabinet. Yediyurappa wrote a letter to Chief Secretary TM Vijay Bhaskar on Thursday. The letter stated that Ballari district has 11 taluks and it is the biggest district in the state and in some parts of the district, people have to travel 200km to reach the district headquarters. The proposal was met with severe opposition, even from within the cabinet.
The proposal read that in order to improve administration, the five taluks of Ballari-Kurugodu, Siruguppa, Sandur and Kudligi, will be part of Ballari district, while the remaining taluks — Hosapete, Kampli, Hagaribommanahalli, Kotturu, Hoovina Hadagali and Harpanahalli — will be part of the proposed new district, with Hosapete as the headquarters.