During the launch of the South Bengaluru Metro line on June 17, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had personally requested President Pranab Mukherjee, to pass two laws which were pending just for his approval.
Just a few days before leaving the office as the President, Mukherjee paid heed to the request of Karnataka CM and has passed two bills regarding an Act which permits a 24% reservation in government contracts for SC-STs and an ordinance passed by the state which allows buffalo races, called Kambala, a cultural tradition in the Karnataka.
Siddaramaiah has played a tactful political move by getting these two bill passed by the incumbent President, as the proceedings of the coming President are unknown. By getting these bills passed, he has also managed to a get vote bank both among the Dalits and the coastal region, that the Congress under Siddaramaiah is desperately longing for.
According to the sources from the CMO, the Chief Minister has specifically urged the President to pass these two bills. Several other bills are also pending, but they are still to be approved by the various ministries and hence has not reached to the office of the President yet.
Siddaramaiah also wrote a letter to the Union home minister Rajnath Singh a few weeks ago, reminding of the eight laws pending with the centre.
The pending laws include Minimum Wages Amendment bill, an amendment to the Land Reforms Act, amendment strengthening the Goonda Act, the Good Samaritan and Medical Professional (protection and regulation during emergency situations) bill, an act for fixing prices and compensation for genetically modified cotton seeds etc.