Drought and severe shortage of drinking water are among the issues which will dominate the agenda during the legislature session as 165 of the total 176 taluks in the State are reeling under drought.
The severity of the drought has put pressure on legislators as a large number of them are flooded with complaints of inadequate supply of drinking water.
They are keen on drawing the government’s attention on the subject.
What makes matters worse is that the storage in almost all the prominent reservoirs has dipped alarmingly.
The debate on drought is likely to take a political turn too as Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has already said that the Centre is yet to release drought-relief assistance to the State.
This is bound to result in a political tussle as the Opposition BJP has been accusing the State of failing to properly utilise the drought-relief assistance provided by the Centre.
Jarkiholi issue
The issue of unaccounted cash of ₹150 crore seized from the residence of Small Scale Industries Minister Ramesh Jarkiholi is also likely to be raised by Opposition parties. They are expected to demand the Minister’s resignation.
However, a senior Opposition leader admitted that the Jarkiholi issue was “tricky” as most of the legislators want to give priority to the debate on drought and drinking water shortage considering that the duration of the session is short.
The series of incidents showing alleged deterioration of the law and order situation are also likely to figure during the debate.
Krishna’s exit
Interestingly, as the session begins, the Congress appears to be demoralised in the wake of the exit of veteran leader S.M. Krishna from the party,
However, the BJP on the other hand is heaving a sigh of relief after a truce was struck between its warring leaders.
JD(S) and dissidence
The Opposition Janata Dal (S) continues to be haunted by the problem of dissidence.
