The 10-day winter session of the Karnataka legislature will start on Monday in Suvarna Soudha in Belagavi.
The entire state machinery will descend on the border city known for its mouth-watering sweet delicacy ‘Kunda’, and pleasant weather, raising expectations from people in North Karnataka.
Given the charged political atmosphere and combative displays from both sides, the session is likely to be stormy. It is a humongous challenge for presiding officers of both houses of the state legislature to ensure the lawmakers use the time for constructive debates with tangible results, rather than turning it into a mere extension of their political battlefield.
Several important issues, including drought relief measures, warrant urgent and productive discussions. It is the collective responsibility of the ruling and the opposition parties to ensure that they keep people’s issues and interests as the focus of discussions, although it is impossible to keep aside politics completely.
For the opposition, the session provides a forum to put the government on the mat over what it perceives as the administration’s shortcomings, while the government presents its standpoint even as it attempts to take members into confidence in the process of formulating laws.
This time around, the BJP and Janata Dal (Secular) will be working together to take on the Siddaramaiah government on a plethora of issues. Newly appointed Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly R Ashoka and BJP state president BY Vijayendra, also a member of the assembly, will be keen to prove their legislative prowess and ability to coordinate with the regional party leaders to take on the government.
The state cabinet’s decision to withdraw the consent given to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to probe a disproportionate assets case against Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, and Minister for Minority Welfare and Wakf BZ Zameer Ahmed Khan’s remarks that all senior BJP MLAs in the state have to bow before a Muslim Speaker is likely to rock the session. They may even derail the proceedings if the government fails to handle the situation deftly.
The new BJP state president has stated that they will not allow Zameer Ahmed Khan to take part in the session. The BJP will also question the government over drought relief measures, power crisis, failure to make much headway in irrigation projects, development works coming to a standstill, and shortcomings in the implementation of guarantee schemes.
Former CM and JD(S) state president HD Kumaraswamy has also made it clear that he will join forces with BJP to corner the government. JDS and Congress leaders were engaged in a bitter battle over alleged corruption in transfers, allegations against the CM’s son, and power theft charge against Kumaraswamy. The animosity between the ruling and opposition leaders is likely to cast its shadow over the session.
From the Opposition perspective, there are many potent issues to take on the government, and BJP and JD(S) will not let go of those issues. However, those issues should not lead to a deadlock, disrupting the proceedings endlessly as that is not the only strategy to convey the point to the people. Most of all, the Opposition must use all the provisions available within the legislative set-up to corner the government, and the ruling party should accommodate and take the opposition into confidence instead of taking a confrontational path.
Former Chief Minister Jagadish Shetttar, a veteran Congress leader from North Karnataka, who attended all the sessions held in Belagavi, is of the view that conducting the legislative session in Belagavi gives people a sense that the government has come to the region, and it is important to have constructive discussions.
Shettar was the Revenue Minister in the BJP-JDS coalition government when the session was held for the first time in Belagavi in 2006 on the Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College (JNMC) campus. He was also the Assembly Speaker when the foundation stone for the Suvarna Vidhana Soudha was laid. It was inaugurated by then-President Pranab Mukherjee when Shettar was the CM in 2012.
So far, the session has been conducted at Suvarna Soudha for only 90 days. The government annually spends nearly Rs 5 crore for its maintenance and not many state-level offices were shifted to either Suvarna Vidhana Soudha or the North Karnataka region as announced by governments earlier.
Shettar suggests cabinet meetings should be held in Suvarna Soudha once in three months and ministers should hold department meetings once a month.
Ironically, the magnificent structure comes to life just once a year when it is cleaned up and illuminated for the session. For most of the year, it goes almost unnoticed. That should not be the case with the governance and discussions held during the winter session. Members cutting across the party lines should strive to make it count.