Rakesh Singha attacks government over price rise, hefty private school fee

Tribune News Service

Shimla, March 3

In the absence of Congress MLAs in the Assembly, lone CPM legislator Rakesh Singha initiated a debate on behalf of the Opposition on the Motion of Thanks to the Governor’s Address in the Vidhan Sabha today.

The Congress has refused to take part in the debate until the suspension of its five MLAs is revoked.

“The Governor’s Address is a half-baked and incomplete document, which has no mention of some very important issues,” he said. He raised the issue of irregularities in purchases by the Health Department during Covid.

Singha refuted the government’s claims of providing online education during Covid and said those whose details had been given did not have access to online education as they did not have smart phones. He also condemned the loot by private schools in charging hefty fees for holding online classes even though schools did not function.

“There is no mention of the double-engine governments at the Central government and in Himachal by any BJP leader as the regimes had failed in checking price rise,” he said.

Launching a counter-attack, BJP MLA Arun Kumar condemned the Congress for its behaviour with the Governor on the opening day of the session. “It appears that it is the Congress culture to misbehave,” he said.

Others who participated in the debate included Col Inder Singh, Narender Thakur, Vinod Kumar, JR Katwal, Hira Lal, Surinder Shourie and Kamlesh Kumari. The Chief Minister will reply to the debate on the Motion of Thanks to the Governor’s Address tomorrow.