Under pressure from MLAs and greens, Karnataka govt. shifts Cabinet meeting venue from Nandi Hills to Vidhana Soudha
In a surprise development, the Congress government shifted the venue of the State Cabinet meeting, earlier scheduled to be held at Nandi Hills in Chikkaballapura district on Thursday, to Vidhana Soudha in Bengaluru.
According to sources, MLAs of Chikkaballapura and Kolar region met Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and told him to hold the Cabinet meeting at Nandi Hills only if the government was ready with a big financial package to the region, like it had announced projects to the Kalaburagi and Mysuru region by holding Cabinet meetings in those regions in the recent past. The MLAs reportedly opposed the Cabinet meeting with a routine agenda.
Public demand
MLAs have reportedly told the Chief Minister that it was difficult for them to answer to the public if the Cabinet did not make any big announcement to the region after holding the meeting at Nandi Hills.
Meanwhile, environmentalists had been opposing the Cabinet meeting at the Hills on the possible damage to the ecology.
Prominent environmentalists, legal experts, and social activists came together at an event organised by World Human Rights Service Foundation on Tuesday in Bengaluru demanding that the ecologically sensitive area be declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a biodiversity conservation zone. They also opposed the proposed ropeway construction at Nandi Hills. Former Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) chairperson and noted environmentalist A.N. Yellappa Reddy also highlighted the plastic crisis on the Hills.
Mango growers' demands
Also, reports suggested that the government was afraid of the mango growers' protest as they had planned to stage a protest at Nandi Hills during the Cabinet meeting, under the leadership of the JD(S).
The government is facing the heat of mango growers of Chickballapur and Kolar districts, as they were demanding the MSP of ₹15,000 per quintal for their produce. Mr. Siddaramaiah had written to the Centre requesting the latter to procure the fruit.
MLAs of the JD(S), along with farmers and party workers, had planned to stage the protest during the Cabinet meeting at Nandi Hills.
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