K’taka BJP passes Land Reforms Bill with JD(S) backing

Bengaluru, Dec 8 : With backing from the Janata Dal (S), the ruling BJP in Karnataka on Tuesday succeeded in passing the Amendment to the Karnataka Land Reforms Act, 1961 in the legislative council.
Prior to the passage of this Bill, the JD(S) took part in a protest that was called by the farmers associations in Karnataka to extend their support to the nationwide Bharat Bandh call given by the farmers opposing the three contentious Central farm laws enacted in September.
The Bill was passed by majority voice vote in the Assembly during the ongoing monsoon session.
The Bill was put to vote after the Congress demanded a division of votes on the amendments to remove Clauses 79 (a) and 79 (b) from the KLR act.
The Bill was passed by 37 votes in its favour and 21 against it. The 10 votes of the JD(S) proved crucial as nine of the Congress members had remained absent.
As expected, the Congress pressed for the division of votes and the leader of the opposition, S.R. Patil, asserted that the Congress intentionally demanded division of votes only to expose the “duality” of the JD(S)