Joint legislature session will be held in February, fortnight before Budget, says Horatti

The council chairman said that the recently concluded session saw the highest number of discussions about northern part of the state

Legislative Council Chairman Basavaraj Horatti said the joint session of the legislature will be held in February, 15 days before the Budget session.

Speaking to mediapersons on Saturday, Horatti said when it comes to the issue of discussing matters related to North Karnataka, the recently concluded Winter Session of the legislature was the most productive in recent years.

“In Council, the members discussed issues related to North Karnataka for more than 11.5 hours, while the government took 3 hours to respond to the questions raised by the MLCs related to the region,” he said.

He said that it was interesting to note that MLCs from South Karnataka raised more questions about the development of this region, compared to their northern counterparts.

Also Read — Anti-conversion bill not for political gains, says Araga Jnanendra

'Hurt by Cong’s behaviour'

Horatti, one of the seniormost lawmakers in both the Houses, said he was hurt by the behaviour of Congress on the last day of the session in Belagavi. “There was some confusion regarding the restarting of Council after 3 pm. While the house bell rang, I called the members. However, the Congress leaders were under the impression that the House has been adjourned sine die and objected to the decision of me allowing the placing of the anti-conversion bill,” he said, adding that the subsequent developments were unwarranted.

"A few of Congress leaders called me names, including ‘agent of BJP’," he said and added that hurt by this, he had decided to tender resignation from the post.

“I withdrew my resignation letter only after the chief minister, leader of opposition in assembly and senior leaders convinced me,” he said and added that as the erring MLCs have expressed their apologies, he has decided against prolonging the matter.

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