For the first time, the environs of Vidhana Soudha, the administrative nerve centre of the State, will host a book exhibition and cultural festival, from Thursday evening.

The Karnataka State Legislature Book Fair – 2025, spearheaded by assembly speaker U.T. Khader, will not only host over 150 bookstores mostly selling Kannada books with rebate but will also host a series of panels and poetry sessions through the weekend, throwing open the Vidhana Soudha for the public. 

The public will have free entry into the Vidhana Soudha, which is usually a fortress with tight security not allowing the public without a pass for a specific purpose inside.

The book fair will be inaugurated at 4 p.m. on Thursday by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and will go on till March 2. The book fair will be open to the public from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.

“The idea is to remove the gap between Vidhana Soudha and the public. Neither the public nor the writers, scholars, and thinkers should be away from the Vidhana Soudha. They need to be brought closer for a good collaboration, to ensure the state’s welfare. Opening up the gates of the Vidhana Soudha is a symbolic first step,” Mr. Khader said. 

Mr. Khader further said that he would continue to hold the book fair annually till he continues as the speaker of the assembly, and hoped his successors also continue the good practice. “There are also suggestions that a similar book fair should be held in Suvarna Soudha ahead of the winter session. We will look into that as well, depending on the response to this fair in Bengaluru,” he said. 

Over 150 stalls have been given to publishers, mostly of Kannada books, at no cost, and instead have been asked to give big discounts. 

The four-day book fair will also become a platform for a host of panel discussions on literature, four poetry meets, publishing industry in Kannada which will see leading writers of Kannada participate. Two Jnanpith awardees – Kannada writer Chandrashekhara Kambar and Konkani writer Damodar Mauzo – will also participate. Several new books will be released at the book fair and will conclude with a musical programme by noted film music composers Arjun Janya and Sadhu Kokila, who is also the Chairman of Karnataka Chalanachitra Academy.