The Karnataka Assembly session, which will commence from Monday, February 14, is expected to witness high-voltage debates as the ruling BJP and opposition Congress are set to lock horns over contentious issues including the anti-conversion Bill, the Mekedatu project and the ongoing hijab row. Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot is scheduled to address the joint session on Monday.
The BJP is all set to table the controversial anti-conversion Bill in the Legislative Council this session. It was passed in the Assembly during the winter session in 2021, held in the Belagavi Suvarna Soudha. While the Congress is set to oppose the Bill, the BJP hopes to get it passed in the Legislative Council, even as the latter is short of a majority by one seat.
The Congress is also set to attack the state government over the non-commencement of work on the Mekedatu project, which is expected to divert more water towards Bengaluru and which has been opposed by neighbouring Tamil Nadu. The party, headed by Congress chief DK Shivakumar and Leader of Opposition Siddaramaiah, had taken out a massive rally in protest amid the third wave of COVID-19. The rally became a flash point between the party and the BJP, as the rally was set to be held even as a weekend curfew was in place to curb COVID-19. The rally was later called off after the intervention of the High Court.
The raging hijab issue, which continues to remain unresolved, is also likely to raise a furor between the BJP, Congress and the JD(S). Protests had broken out in colleges across the state as the High Court began to hear a batch of pleas filed by students, seeking a ruling that wearing the hijab is a Constitutional right. Some of the protests turned violent, leading to police clamping prohibitory orders in parts of Karnataka.
Senior Congress leader BK Hariprasad will also begin his stint as the Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Council.