Legislature winter session begins Monday; Opposition to corner Coalition govt over agrarian issues
Belagavi, Dec 9: The winter session of the Karnataka legislature, set to begin here from Monday, is likely to be a stormy affair with the opposition BJP expected to corner the government over a host of issues, including farmer suicides and alleged lack of clarity and delay in the implementation of the farm loan waiver.
Coalition worries within the ruling Congress-JDS alliance and disgruntlement over the delay in the cabinet expansion may also cast a shadow over the session.
The saffron party has already announced a large-scale protest meet in Belagavi, likely to be attended by over one lakh farmers, during the session to corner the government on agrarian issues.
With 100 taluks in 24 districts of Karnataka being declared drought-hit, BJP leaders are likely to take on the state government over relief and mitigation measures.
"The chief minister has confined himself to Old Mysuru region. We will raise farmers issues both inside and outside the House. Tomorrow, we are gathering more than one lakh farmers to send a strong message to the government," Leader of Opposition in the Assembly B S Yeddyurappa said.
The animosity between Yeddyurappa and Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy, who have been indulging in a verbal duel, and the results of Assembly polls in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, Rajasthan and Mizoram to be declared on Tuesday, is expected to add spice to the heated atmosphere in the legislature.
The BJP, which is the single-largest party in the 224-member Assembly with 104 MLAs, has been alleging that the government has "not taken off" even six months after being in power.
Hitting back at this, Kumaraswamy has said the coalition government will hold its performance to the BJP chief Yeddyurappa's "face", during the session.
The JD(S)-Congress government's worries may be heightened with sugarcane farmers in Belagavi district threatening to intensify their protest over demands for clearance of their arrears by sugar factories and announcement of purchase price for sugarcane for the current season as had been done in neighbouring Maharashtra.
Sugarcane farmers had withdrawn their protest last month following assurances from the government that their issues would be resolved. They have now threatened to resume it during the session, alleging that the government has not kept its word.
Issues within the ruling coalition are troubling the government, whose longevity and stability has been questioned repeatedly. Several legislators, especially those from the Congress, are reportedly unhappy over delay in cabinet expansion and functioning of the coalition government.
With some Congress MLAs allegedly threatening to boycott the winter session, the ruling coalition's coordination committee, that met on Wednesday, decided to expand the Kumaraswamy ministry on December 22, soon after the session ends.
Amid all this, speculations are also rife about the BJP still trying to poach some disgruntled Congress MLAs, as part of its efforts to come back to power in Karnataka.
Many Congress MLAs have even complained to their party leaders about the style of functioning of a few JD(S) ministers, including CM Kumaraswamy's brother and PWD minister H D Revanna, and alleged discrimination towards them in developmental and constituency-related matters.
For the BJP too, it remains to be seen to what extent the party will stay united in raising issues and fighting the the ruling alliance on the floor of the House. Reports of differences within the state BJP and Yeddyurappa allegedly losing grip over it have been emerging recently.
On the other hand, Kumaraswamy, whose administration has been accused of being apathetic towards north Karnataka and concentrating only on the southern districts, that too the Vokkaliga-dominated old Mysuru region which is a bastion of his party, now has an opportunity to bridge the gap during the session.
This will be the first Assembly session for the Congress-JD(S) government in Belagavi, a town in north Karnataka, bordering Maharashtra, that has been hosting legislature session once a year since 2006.
The move was initiated by the JD(S)-BJP coalition government, with Kumaraswamy as chief minister. Suvarna Vidhana Soudha, modelled after the Vidhana Soudha, the state secretariat in Bengaluru, was built during the BJP government as an assertion that Belagavi is an integral part of Karnataka.
Maharashtra claims that Belagavi should belong to it.
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Man held for cheating IT official by posing as 'parrot astrologer'
Bengaluru (PTI): A 59-year-old man was arrested for allegedly duping an Income Tax department official by posing as a "parrot astrologer" and promising career growth and better life through rituals, police said on Wednesday.
With the arrest of the accused astrologer Shekar, police claimed to have recovered gold ornaments weighing 124 grams and silver articles weighing 796 grams, with a total value of Rs 20.60 lakh.
The matter came to light after the victim, who is a senior administrative officer in the Income Tax department, lodged a complaint at Bharatinagar police station here on March 5, police said.
According to police, in the complaint, the victim stated that while passing near Sri Circle, he was approached by a person claiming to practise parrot astrology. The accused called him over, claimed he could predict the future by looking at his face, and convinced him to perform a ritual.
Initially, the accused collected Rs 50,000 from the complainant. Later, he allegedly told the victim that an elaborate ritual was necessary for career promotion, transfer, and overall improvement in life, and threatened that failure to do so would bring misfortune, he alleged.
"Under this pretext, the accused took 194 grams of gold ornaments and 1.3 kg of silver articles from the complainant, assuring they would be returned after the ritual," police said.
When the complainant later demanded the return of the valuables, the accused allegedly threatened him, they said.
During the investigation, police gathered credible information and apprehended the accused near Cantonment Railway Station on March 12 and upon interrogation, he confessed to committing the offence with the intention of making quick money, a senior police officer said.
He was produced before a court on March 13 and taken into police custody for five days.
During sustained questioning, the accused revealed that he had sold the stolen gold and silver items at a jewellery shop in Halasuru. Based on his information, police recovered 124 grams of gold ornaments and 796 grams of silver articles from the shop on March 15, valued at Rs 20.60 lakh, the officer said.
The accused was again produced before the court on March 17 and was remanded to judicial custody, he added.
