Belagavi, 8 Dec

Stage is set for the Winter Session of the Karnataka State legislature in Belagavi, bordering Maharashtra. The 10-day session will start on Monday.

The session would see five bills, three private bills, and replacement bills for the two ordinances being tabled in the assembly.

According to Karnataka Assembly Speaker UT Khader, the five bills are Karnataka University (Amendment Bill), Basavana Bagewadi Development Authority Bill, Rural Development and Panchayat Raj University (Amendment) Bill, Karnataka Labour Welfare Fund (Amendment) Bill and Karnataka Tourism Ropeway Bill.

Two replacement bills for the two ordinances – BBMP (Amendment) ordinance and Karnataka GST (Amendment) Ordinance – will also be tabled.

"Three private bills by our MLAs have been accepted. The private bill moved by Darshan Puttannaiah pertains to Climate Change in Karnataka. Another bill by MY Patil relates to Ganagapura Dattatreya Development Authority Bill. H K Suresh’s private bill is about Belur Halebidu Region Development Authority,” Khader told reporters.

The Speaker also said that 8,500 people have been deployed including 6,000 policemen. There will be about 2,500 government officers and employees for the smooth functioning of the assembly. There will be a picture exhibition on Mahatma Gandhi comprising 100 photographs as a mark of the centenary of Belgaum (now called Belagavi) Congress session, which was presided over by him.

Further, Anubhava Mandapa’s picture would be inaugurated by CM Siddaramaiah. All ministers and the MLAs would likely to attend it, Khader said.

The session is slated to be stormy as the opposition BJP and its ally JD(S) would try to corner the ruling Congress on a host of issues such as MUDA scam, Waqf Board notices to farmers and institutions, and five maternal deaths in Ballari Medical College and Research Centre.

In the Mysuru Urban Development Authority scam Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, his wife Parvathi B M, his brother-in-law Mallikarjuna Swamy, and others are accused.

It is alleged that Parvathi got 14 sites in prime locations of Mysuru city in lieu of the ‘acquisition’ of three acres and 16 guntas of her land in Kesare village in Mysuru. Parvathi has written to MUDA to initiate steps to take sites back.

In the meantime, the ED, which is also probing along with the Lokayukta police, too said that there were large scale irregularities in the MUDA land transactions to the tune of over Rs 700 crore. It has shared details with the Lokayukta police regarding its findings.

The Congress may take on the opposition by raising the BDA flats bribery case in which BJP strongman and former Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa and his son and BJP state chief B Y Vijayendra are allegedly involved, a charge dismissed by them.

The ruling Congress is expected to raise the issue of 'Covid-19 scam' too.

Justice Michael D' Cunha Commission of Inquiry that investigated alleged irregularities in the purchase of equipment and medicines during the Covid-19 pandemic has recommended prosecution of then Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa and former minister B Sriramulu, the state government said.

The Karnataka government last month decided to constitute a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe these alleged irregularities based on the interim report submitted by Justice Michael D’Cunha Commission.

 The session may also see the Congress and the JD(S) at loggerheads over the HMT land. The state Forest Minister Eshwar Khandre has claimed that the HMT land belongs to the forest department, while the Union Minister and JD(S) second-in-command HD Kumaraswamy has rejected it.