While the legislature session is expected to be under way in September, the location for it is yet to be decided. While an external location outside the Vidhana Soudha is being considered, sources said the traditional seat of the legislature is finding favour as of now.
Secretariat sources said it was likely that the next Cabinet meeting, scheduled on Thursday, would see discussions on the date and number of days of the session. “As per the rules, the legislature session has to be convened before the end of September. Once the Cabinet decides on the date, it will be sent to the Governor, who will convene the session officially. Once these processes are completed, the legislature secretariat will start the preparations,” a source said.
Meanwhile, to adhere to the social distancing norms and the limitation that Vidhana Soudha has, the legislature secretariat has also zeroed in on two external locations in Bengaluru city — the auditoriums in GKVK and Palace Ground. This, however, poses a logistical problem as almost all the offices have to be set up at these locations. Besides, toilets and seating facility, among other things, need to be set up. “If the location is outside Vidhana Soudha, these facilities have to be set up on a war footing,” the source said.
Sources said that though there is overwhelming support for the session to be held in Vidhana Soudha with adequate precautions in place, it will be Speaker Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri who will decide on the location. “We have given all the blueprints for the session to be held at Vidhana Soudha, and he has asked for additional inputs. He is likely to go through it and take a final call this week or the next.”
