By Arun Pratap Singh
Dehradun, 18 Feb: On the first day of the budget session of the Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly, amid uproarious boycott by the Congress, Governor Lt Gen Gurmit Singh (Retd), in his address, listed the achievements of the Dhami Government.
However, the Congress members raised several issues from the Well of the House including the Ankita Bhandari murder case and, also, objected to the short duration of the Budget session. Later, they walked out of the House as the address was ongoing.
At the beginning of the session, the opposition MLAs also raised slogans such as “Governor go back, give justice to Ankita”. As the Governor started reading the speech, the Congress members demanded an extension of the session. Leader of the Opposition Yashpal Arya claimed that the government wants to run the session for only three days, which would be harmful to the MLAs as well as the public. He said that the opposition wants to discuss the Governor’s address and the general budget in the House. He also questioned the “collapse of law and order in the state”. He said there is open looting, and yet the government is busy in its own affairs.
Arya also claimed that the Opposition wants a comprehensive discussion on the Governor’s address and the general budget in the House.
In the post lunch sitting of the House, when Speaker Ritu Khanduri Bhushan finished reading the text of the Governor’s address and was about to adjourn the House till 11 a.m. tomorrow, Congress MLA from Manglaur, Qazi Nizamuddin read out from the rule book, reminding that it is specifically mentioned that the discussion on the Governor’s address is to be held for 4 days while the government wants to reduce it to just two days. He added he has many pertinent issues to raise regarding his constituency and other members of the House also want to do so, but the two-day discussion is grossly inadequate to ensure this.
However, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Prem Chand Aggarwal responded by claiming that the agenda has been discussed and approved by the Business Advisory Committee and often it is the traditions of the House that are followed instead of just going by the rule book. Following this, Arya tried to speak but the Speaker adjourned the House till 11 a.m. tomorrow.
