The ruling party wants to cut short the session even as several important bills are slated to be tabled.
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The Karnataka government is mulling over cutting short the monsoon session of the Assembly, which began on Monday. The business advisory committee convened on Monday to discuss whether the session should be cut short to three days as many legislators are currently in home quarantine. Speaking to the media before the session began on Monday, Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa said that a session cannot be held properly as many legislators would be absent. "Around 50 to 60 MLAs (members of legislative assembly) are unable to attend as many are in quarantine and there are myriad other reasons why they cannot attend in the wake of COVID-19. It is not safe to hold these sessions. The Business advisory committee will discuss whether the session should be cut short," Yediyurappa told reporters outside Vidhana Soudha on Monday. The opposition parties, however, are up in arms about the suggestion to cut short the session. Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee's President, DK Shivakumar said that the government was "scared to answer the opposition's questions", which is why they were hesitant to hold the session. "The opposition has submitted 1,600 questions for this session. There are 30 bills that will be tabled and each of it requires two to three hours of debate. The government has to answer questions about flood relief. We have questions about how badly the government has handled the COVID-19 situation. There is the issue of farmers, which is of utmost importance. We also have to put in front of people numerous corruption scams that the government has perpetrated. They (BJP) are scared of answering our questions. We have decided not to agree to cut short the session," DK Shivakumar said. The state government is slated to amend the Industries Facilitation Act, and also introduce the Land Reforms Bill 2020. In June this year, the state government amended the Land Reforms Act to allow any individual to buy agricultural land. In addition, a new bill is slated to be tabled in the Assembly. "If opposition does not question, they will quietly pass these bills. We want debates, we want the government to answer questions," Dk Shivakumar said.
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