By Manjunath K. Shresthi
December 11, 2025
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The annual winter session in north Karnataka’s Belagavi officially commenced on December 09, at the Suvarna Vidhana Soudha. Some of the buildings, offices and traffic intersections have been lit up. The entire city now wears a festive look. The vicinity of the busy Chanamma circle and other major throughfares in the city, have been adorned with banners, buntings both big and small. Posters of different leaders have been put by their followers near the administrative offices. All hotels are now packed; arrangements made for the office, security staff and all concerned now staying in Belagavi. Even protests by various organisations are happening daily near the designated areas around Suvarna Soudha, and also at Chanamma circle.
With the elected 224 MLAs/ and bureaucrats of the state in the city; their presence helps the local economy for a fortnight in the last month of the year. But is it enough, and why are no sessions held throughout the year?
North Karnataka (NK), in comparison to the southern parts of the state lags behind in all aspects. Growth is starved in the backward regions in both Kalyan and Kittur Karnataka. There’ are no major manufacturing hubs or big industries. Hence, there’s limited scope for growth and few jobs available. This is the same story in all the NK districts. Even the tourism potential of the region hasn’t been fully tapped. During the course of the session, there must be discussions about different districts of NK. Employment generation can be done by timely completion of the pending irrigation and infrastructure projects. The NK districts have great potential for horticultural crops, and they too must be promoted.
The youth of the region after completing their graduation, travel to the ‘tech and capital city Bengaluru’. The IT capital has crossed it’s carrying capacity. Its worsening traffic and infrastructure woes have been written and discussed at length. So, the administration should decongest Bengaluru; and give concessions to industries moving out to other cities in the large state. This will help in all-round growth of the district centres lagging behind.
And leaders cutting across political lines, must single handedly pursue the growth of the backward north Karnataka region. The ruling party should promote Dharwad-Hubli, as the next IT capital. The potential of Kalyan Karnataka must also be given attention, so that there’s proper distribution of resources.
