3-day Special Session of State Legislature begins

Deliberation on Kasturirangan Committee Report and drought…

Truncated official rendition of Vande Mataram irks BJP-JD(S) legislators, who sing full song

Bengaluru: The three-day Special Session of the State Legislature convened by the Government to discuss the impact of Kasturirangan Report and the prevailing drought situation, began in the State capital this morning.

The discussion on Kasturirnagan Report, the draft of which has been published, began in the State Assembly without any issues after the rendition of two stanzas of ‘Vande Mataram.’

However, the rendition of ‘Vande Mataram’ issue turned out into a verbal exchange of words between the ruling Congress and the Opposition BJP in the Legislative Council, as BJP and JD(S) members objected to the recitation of only two stanzas of the National song and registered their protest by reciting the full version of  the song. Council Chairman Salim Ahmed intervened and calmed down the Opposition members.

The 3-day Session that comes after a near total washout of the Monsoon Session of the State Legislature last month is expected to pass a resolution against the implementation of Kasturirangan Report, as there seems to be no political differences over the Report across the political spectrum.

The draft notification on the Eco-Sensitive Area (ESA) by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change was issued on July 27 and the State has a 60-day window to file its objections. The Special Session is likely to pass a unanimous resolution against the Report within 60 days.

The Session will also take up discussion on drought issue, with deficit rainfall having already caused heavy losses to the Agriculture sector.

The BJP-JD(S) combine Opposition is expected to increase pressure on the Government over drought relief, while the ruling Congress is likely to raise the issue of farm loan waiver, placing the onus on the Centre.

Ahead of the Assembly Session, Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar was engaged in receiving feedback from farmers, public and leaders in areas affected by Kasturirangan Report for the past couple of days. The CM had insisted that the Session has been convened only to discuss the two issues on the agenda.

The Assembly Session was presided over by Speaker G.S. Patil while Salim Ahmed chaired the Legislative Council.

The Session ends on Sept. 23.