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Himachal assembly adjourned for a day amid drama
Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania first adjourned the House briefly due to a lack of quorum and then for the rest of the day amid the pandemonium
The Himachal Pradesh assembly was adjourned for the day on Tuesday amid disruptions by both the treasury and the Opposition benches.
Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania first adjourned the House briefly due to a lack of quorum and then for the rest of the day amid the pandemonium.
When the House reassembled after the lunch break, leader of Opposition Jai Ram Thakur said the cut motions on the health department were rejected by voice vote and their demand for a division of the votes was not accepted. He alleged that the government was running away from the division of votes as it has lost its majority.
Defending the government, revenue minister Jagat Singh Negi said 33 Congress MLAs were present while only BJP 25 members were in the House. The speaker took the right decision to go for a voice vote and there was no question of allowing division, he said.
The Bharatiya Janata Party’s Vipin Parmar also expressed dismay at the speaker not allowing the division of votes, leading to members from both benches raising slogans against each other.
Interestingly, along with Opposition members, ruling party’s representatives also walked out of the House while raising slogans against each other.
The speaker adjourned the House soon after. Later, chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu accused the BJP MLAs of misbehaving with and threatening the Congress members.
He told reporters said that every member, including those from the Congress, have a right to speak. The numbers are in favour of the Congress, he added. Sukhu also said that action will be considered against the party MLAs who were absent from the House despite a whip being issued.
Accusing the BJP of indulging in malpractice, Sukhu alleged that five or six Congress MLAs were kidnapped and whisked away by a convoy of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and the Haryana Police, calling it a “murder of democracy”. The people of Himachal will never pardon the BJP for such a disgusting act, he claimed.
The BJP, however, alleged that the House marshal misbehaved with its members when they were approaching the speaker’s chamber to register their protest.
The Congress has 40 MLAs in the 68-member assembly. It also enjoys the support of three Independent lawmakers. The opposition BJP has 25 MLAs.
