Din continues in HP assembly as opposition stages a walkout again
Din in Himachal Pradesh Assembly continued on second day of the winter session with the opposition Congress once again staging a walkout over the issue of Global Investors’ Meet and inflation in the country.
Immediately after the House assembled, Congress member Harshvardhan Chauhan got up to raise a point of order stating that the opposition had given an adjournment motion notice under Rule 67 seeking debate on Global Investors’ Meet on Monday which was rejected by the speaker.
“However, the same issue is listed for discussion today and our names have been included in the last with a reference to the notice that was given on Monday and was rejected,” Chauhan said.
Leader of Opposition Mukesh Agnihotri supported Chauhan and launched an offensive on the government. Chaos started when BJP member Rakesh Pathania also stood up to raise a point of order. He said the language opposition members used in the notice under Rule 67 was not acceptable as they were alleging that the investors’ summit was a scam.
This led to a heated exchange between the two sides. Agnihotri made some allegations against the government which the speaker directed not to record in the proceedings.
Meanwhile, chief minister Jai Ram Thakur, who is known for a composed demeanour, also lost his cool on Tuesday. “Let it be Himachal. Don’t try to make it Punjab or Bihar,” he cautioned the opposition.
Thakur said the opposition should be ashamed of the kind of language they used in the House. The Speaker tried to calm down the situation and clarified that since the subject of the notices under Rule 67 and Rule 130 was the same so he clubbed them both.
Bindal said in the last two years he had given equal opportunity to the members to raise their issues and they can check the records.
In the meantime, the opposition accused the speaker of campaigning in Pacchad byelection. Bindal countered the allegation stating that the LoP had accused him of campaigning in the election despite him attending a conference in Uganda.
CM CRITICISES OPPOSITION
After question hour was over, the CM said, “ The Congress had given a notice under Rule 67 for discussion on price rise but did not talk about it and referred to the investors’ meet.
“We are unable to comprehend on which issue they have staged a walkout,” Thakur said, adding that the Congress couldn’t decide which issues to raise as there was a competition within the party to outclass each other.
“This is happening due to the dearth of experienced leaders in the Congress. The opposition has hurt the dignity of the House by pointing fingers at the chair not once but time and again,” the CM said.
Investors’ Meet was a grand success: CM
The Global Investors’ Meet organised at Dharamshala on November 7-8 was a grand success with 200 foreign delegations attending the summit besides ambassadors of ten countries, the CM said.
He was replying to a debate under Rule 130 to discuss the “Impacts of Global Investors Meet”. The debate was initiated by legislator Balbir Singh with MLAs Narender Bragta, Hoshyar Singh, Rakesh Jamwal and Kishori Lal participating in it.
The CM said a total of 2,800 investors from India and across the world attended the summit which was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He said, “During the event, eight sectoral sessions were held on different issues. Besides, 85 meetings were held with business delegations and 93 meetings of investors were held,” he said.
“We ensured that the event is not confined to the industry department but is holistic in nature and includes all potential sectors,” he said, adding that the summit reflected the ability of a small state like Himachal to organise an international-level event.
GOVT HAS PUT HIMACHAL ON SALE: AGNIHOTRI
While addressing mediapersons outside the Vidhan Sabha, leader of opposition Mukesh Agnihotri alleged that the opposition members were not being allowed to raise their issues.
He said the investors’ meet was a big issue as the government has put Himachal on sale by signing MoUs with investors arbitrarily. “Investor meet was a conspiracy by some officers to sell the state’s resources,” he alleged.
He said earlier the CM had opposed Real Estate Regulatory Authority but has now decided to go ahead with it. “He needs to explain it,” Agnihotri said as he demanded a white paper on expenditure in organising investors’ meet.
Agnihotri alleged the government paid ₹16 crore for erecting a tent and ₹6 crores for publicity of the investors’ meet.
