Ruckus in Vidhan Sabha, Cong MLAs stage walkout

atibha Chauhan

Tribune News Service

Shimla, March 2

The Congress today remained adamant on the revocation of the suspension of its five MLAs and staged a walk out from the Vidhan Sabha after heated exchanges and sloganeering between the treasury benches and the Opposition.

The Congress raised the issue of the suspension of the five MLAs through a point of order. Asha Kumari, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Suresh Bhardwaj and Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur also participated in the discussion.

However, the situation became tense as soon as Speaker Vipin Parmar gave Deputy Speaker Hans Raj an opportunity to speak. All Opposition members were on their feet, and they objected that how could Hans Raj be given an opportunity to speak when he was responsible for jostling. The Congress MLAs raised slogans, which were met with counter sloganeering by the BJP MLAs. There was complete pandemonium in the House, as the Congress did not allow Hans Raj to speak. Later, they staged a walk out from the House.

Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu raised the issue of the suspension of the five Congress MLAs even before the proceedings for the day began. He blamed the government for the ugly situation on the opening day of the Budget session. “The government has adopted a pick and choose policy in targeting MLAs. If the suspension of the MLAs is not revoked, we will not let the House to run,” he said.

Asha Kumari termed the suspension of Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Mukesh Agnihotri and four other MLAs as illegal. She said that the government was responsible for the showdown and the Chief Minister made no efforts to defuse the situation. “Videos clearly show that no Congress MLA pushed the Governor, or the Chief Minister or any minister and it was the Deputy Speaker who pushed opposition MLAs,” she alleged.

Asha Kumari also questioned the move to recall the session within five minutes. “We were not invited for tea with the Governor, which is a tradition, and then the intimation to reconvene the House at 12.50 pm was received at 12.46 pm, which was an extremely short notice,” she said. She added that the rule under which the House was recalled was wrong, so the proceedings where the suspension of the MLAs was ordered were illegal.

Bhardwaj said that it was not for the first time that the entire Governor’s Address was not read. “However, if you people indulge in a physical assault, it will not be accepted,” he added. He asked all Congress MLAs to apologise to the Governor, as even Virbhadra Singh and his colleagues had done so when they had raised slogans during the Address of Governor Vishnu Kant Shastri.