Karnataka Governor Thaawar Chand Gehlot on Wednesday, January 21, declined to deliver the customary address to the joint session of the state legislature scheduled to commence on January 22. The unexpected move has triggered urgency within the government, with a high-level delegation led by Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister HK Patil rushing to the Governor’s residence for discussions.
The legislature session, slated to run from January 22 to 31, was to open with Gehlot’s address on Thursday. A key agenda item was a special discussion on the repeal of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) and its replacement with the newly enacted Viksit Bharat–Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM Act), 2025.
Speaking to the media after meeting with the Governor, Law Minister HK Patil said the Governor had wanted the removal of eleven paragraphs in the speech prepared by Cabinet. The contested paragraphs dealt with the MGNREGA scheme, loss of rights for the farmers with the new VB-G RAM Act, relations between Karnataka and the Union government, losses to the state, among others.
“Normally, if the Governor has any objections, we can modify some of the content, but we cannot leave it altogether. It is not appropriate for us to do so. But he wanted those paragraphs removed entirely,” Patil said.
He also said that the Governor would be arriving at the joint session on Thursday morning. “We have requested him to make the speech. It is mandatory for the Governor to do so. We will cross the bridge when we come to it,” he said in response to a question of what the state government was going to do if the Governor refused to address the joint House.
The reasons behind the Governor’s decision remain unclear. The government is expected to seek clarity and attempt a resolution during the meeting at Lok Bhavan.
The ruling Congress is preparing to strongly contest the Union government’s scrapping of MGNREGA and will push for the scheme’s restoration, part of the party’s wider national campaign to preserve the rural employment guarantee programme.
Meanwhile, in Tamil Nadu, Governor RN Ravi walked out of the Legislative Assembly on January 20, without delivering the customary Governor’s address. Minutes after the walkout, Lok Bhavan issued a detailed clarification, alleging that the Governor had been denied an opportunity to speak and claiming his microphone had been switched off.
