Belagavi (Karnataka), Dec 15 (IANS) The Karnataka BJP has demanded a one-week extension of the Belagavi winter session at Suvarna Soudha, which is scheduled to conclude on December 19.

Leader of Opposition R. Ashoka has submitted a written request in this regard to Speaker U.T. Khader.

“I have submitted a written request to the Speaker, U.T. Khader, seeking a one-week extension of the ongoing winter session of the Legislature at Suvarna Soudha in Belagavi,” he said on Monday.

“Several serious issues related to North Karnataka have been raised by members, to which the Chief Minister and ministers have yet to respond. In addition, members require adequate time to discuss many important matters, including the deteriorating law and order situation in the state and the poor performance in the utilisation of funds across various government departments,” Ashoka stated.

“In this context, I am confident that the Speaker will consider my request and extend the Legislature session by one week,” Ashoka stated.

The letter addressed to Speaker Khader stated, “It was decided to hold the winter session in Belagavi from December 8 to December 19. However, for various reasons, two days of the session were curtailed out of the total 10 days. Several important and pressing issues concerning the state remain pending for discussion. In order to deliberate on these matters and find solutions, it has been demanded that the session be extended by one week.”

Ashoka, while attacking the Congress-led government in the state, said, “Eight and a half months of the 2025-26 financial year have already passed, leaving only 3.5 months remaining. However, of the Rs 4.09 lakh crore allocated in the budget to 47 government departments by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, only Rs 2.06 lakh crore has been spent so far. These figures hold up a mirror to the functioning of the Karnataka Congress-led government.”

“In particular, the performance of the departments headed by Minister for Rural Development and Panchayat Raj (RDPR), IT and BT Priyank Kharge and Minister for Labour Santosh S. Lad has been extremely poor,” he pointed out.

“Expenditure stands at just 20 per cent in the IT-BT Department, 29 per cent in the Labour Department, and 30 per cent in the RDPR Department. Instead of indulging in unnecessary statements, trivial politics, and wasting time on rhetoric, I urge both ministers to focus, at least now, on discharging their responsibilities and improving the performance of their departments,” Ashoka slammed.

–IANS

mka/dpb