Bengaluru: The Monsoon Session of the State Legislature began at the Vidhana Soudha this morning.

Soon as the Session began, the House passed obituary references to Forest Minister Umesh Katti, former Minister M. Raghupathy, former CPI (M) MLA Srirama Reddy, other political leaders of the State  and Queen Elizabeth of Britain, who passed away recently.

Speaking after the adoption of the obituary reference, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai condoled the demise of his Cabinet colleague Umesh Katti and said that Katti was an active and colourful politician who was straightforward in his language and views.

Recalling the services of  Umesh Katti since his entry to the Vidhana Soudha in the 1980s following the passing away of his father Vishwanath Katti, Bommai said that the presence of Katti will surely be missed in the Assembly.

JD(S) MLAs H.K. Kumaraswamy and C.S. Puttaraju, Congress MLA R.V. Deshpande and other Legislators too spoke and praised the contributions of Katti and all other former Members of the House who passed away recently.

Both the Houses are likely to be adjourned for the day later in the afternoon.

The 10-day Session will go on till Sept. 23 and is surely be stormy affair. The Opposition Congress and JD(S) have geared  up their ante against the Government for its alleged failures in dealing with floods in different parts of the State and corruption charges that have dogged the Government. They are also likely to persist on their demand for a judicial probe into 40 percent commission charges made by Karnataka State Contractors Association.

The Government, on its part, is set to go all-out for defending itself and to rubbish the claims on corruption charges and allegations of mishandling of flood situation. The Government is also expected to  introduce a few bills.