The delayed start of the Legislative Assembly on the first day of the winter session in Belagavi’s Suvarna Vidhana Soudha on December 4, 2023 drew flak from a few members.
Though the session was scheduled to begin by 11 a.m., the House assembled only after a delay of one hour by 12 noon.
Soon after Speaker U.T. Khader took his seat, former Minister and BJP MLA S Suresh Kumar stood up and expressed his disappointment over the delay in the start of the Assembly on its first day. “By delaying the start of the session by one hour, we are not sending the right message,” he lamented.
Mr Suresh Kumar’s view was endorsed by former Minister and Congress MLA Basavaraj Raya Reddi. The delayed start of the Assembly session not only raises questions on the authorities, but also reflects badly on entire north Karnataka region, he said.
Mr Reddi, who is also a former MP, recalled that the Lok Sabha would always start on time. “If the House (Lok Sabha) was scheduled to start at 11 a.m., the Speaker would come and take his seat at 11 a.m.”, he said asking Mr Khader to do the same in the Legislative Assembly.
Prioritise problems of North Karnataka region
BJP’s Basanagouda Patil Yatnal too stood up and urged the Speaker to accord priority to discussing problems pertaining to North Karnataka during the early days of the Legislature session. He said the problems of North Karnataka will be ignored if the issues relating to them are scheduled for discussion during the later days of the Legislature session.
Though the delayed start of the Assembly was attributed to late arrival of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, sources in the Chief Minister’s office said the flight carrying the Chief Minister from Bengaluru arrived in Belagavi late due to weather conditions.
Also, enroute to Suvarna Vidhana Soudha, Mr. Siddaramaiah’s convoy was stopped at three places to address protesting farmers.
