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HP assembly winter session set to be a stormy affair
The 16-day winter session of Vidhan Sabha commencing on February 14 is expected to be stormy affair, with the Opposition and the ruling Congress set to take on each other ahead of the Lok Sabha elections
The 16-day winter session of Vidhan Sabha commencing on February 14 is expected to be stormy affair, with the Opposition and the ruling Congress set to take on each other ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
The Bharatiya Janata Party will showcase the five years of work done by Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance government and the state government would highlight the “lack of adequate grant from Centre to carry out the developmental works.” The Opposition has already intensified its attacks on the Congress over unfulfilled election promises.
“BJP will hold the government accountable for its promises. Every month, the state government is raising loans. Where is the money going,” said leader of Opposition Jai Ram Thakur. The BJP has repeatedly been targeting the Congress for “not meeting its poll promise of ₹1,500 to women.”
BJP will raise other issues related to the delay in the declaration of results for the junior office assistant (JOA) IT recruitment exam. Thousands of candidates are grappling with uncertainty due to the prolonged delay, prompting the BJP to demand a swift resolution, party leader aware of the developments said.
The ruling party is poised to counter accusations of neglect during natural disasters and allegations of administrative shortcomings. The Congress will highlight the works done by chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu’s government over the last year, particularly the relief provided to people during the disasters, party leaders said.
Jai Ram Thakur said the condition of the state has deteriorated within one year of Congress regime.
“Today, all the development works have come to a standstill and the employees have to take to the streets and protest for their salaries. They took a loan of ₹14,000 crore in 14 months and there is no money in their funds to pay salaries to the employees next month. Thakur was in Mandi to attend the annual program Adyant of Saraj Student Welfare Association as the chief guest.
Assembly to start its YouTube channel
Famous for its high traditions and the country’s first e-Assembly, the assembly will start its digital platform to livestream proceedings. The Vidhan Sabha is working on starting its own YouTube channel and this channel will be launched soon, said speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania. Addressing mediapersons on Shimla, he said that with the launch of this channel, the proceedings of the assembly can be watched online.
Pathania said that as per tradition, the 5th budget session will start with the governor’s address. He said that given the Lok Sabha elections, only 13 meetings of the budget session have been scheduled. Apart from tradition, there will be a condolence ceremony on the day of the governor’s address, he said.
Sukhu, who holds the finance portfolio, would present the budget on February 17. This will be his second budget, Pathania said.
It would be passed on the last day of the session, February 29, he said.The last two days of the session have been earmarked for the discussion on the governor’s address, four days for general discussion on budget and three days for debate on demands, the speaker said.
So far, 793 questions, including 582 starred, and eight notices under Rule 130 have been received, he said. Pathania added that the number of questions could increase.The sound system of the House has been replaced at a cost of ₹94 lakh, Pathania added.
He said that all preparations for the assembly budget session have been completed and tight security arrangements have been made. An all-party meeting has been called for Tuesday.
