The Karnataka government appears to have quelled a confrontation with the governor over his address to the joint session of the Assembly.

After meeting Thaarwarchand Gehlot on Wednesday, law and parliamentary affairs minister H.K. Patil told reporters outside Lok Bhavan that the governor would address
the joint session at 11am on Thursday as scheduled.

Earlier, Gehlot had refused to address the session as he had reservations about 11 paragraphs of the speech, prepared by the state’s Congress government against the Centre’s policies.

Hectic parleys were on to placate Gehlot, who had declined to address the Assembly on Thursday. A high-level team of officials led by Patil met the governor at the Lok Bhavan.

The joint session of the Karnataka Legislature will start on January 22 and continue till January 31 with Gehlot’s customary address on Day 1.

The session is expected to be stormy as the Siddaramaiah government had envisaged to come out with a resolution against the NDA government for repealing the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).

The government will be demanding the restoration of MGNREGA by scrapping the new Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission Gramin (VB-G RAM G) Act.

After the meeting, Patil told reporters that Gehlot had reservations about reading out 11 paragraphs prepared by the cabinet.

“The governor will address the joint session. The Constitution mandates that the address of the government is to be addressed by the governor. The governor’s speech is nothing but a declaration of government policies, programmes and views. We are against the Centre’s decision to repeal the MGNREGA,” Patil said.