MLAs miffed over absence of zero, question hour

Geetanjali Gayatri
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, January 19

The decision to give question hour and zero hour a miss in the two-day special session of the Haryana Vidhan Sabha that begins on Monday has not gone down well with the Opposition which claims that the state government wants to “usurp” its rights and silence its voice.

Deputy Leader of Opposition and Congress MLA Aftab Ahmed said the government was merely focussing on fulfilling its constitutional obligation by holding these sessions at regular intervals while denying legislators their rights.

“This is the third session of the newly constituted Vidhan Sabha which is being held without a question hour and a zero hour. In the first session, MLAs were administered oath of office while the second was a special session to mark Constitution Day. I wanted to raise crucial questions about sugarcane purchase, lack of irrigation and an ailing hospital in my constituency. However, I was told that no questions were allowed,” he said, adding that the government seems in a hurry since it doesn’t even want to give time to the MLAs to speak on the Governor’s Address.

The MLAs are upset over preparation time being denied to them since discussion on the Governor’s Address has been scheduled for soon after it will be presented. The session, the first this year, will begin with the address by Haryana Governor Satyadev Narayan Arya.

INLD’s sole MLA Abhay Chautala, too, minced no words while stating that the government was treating the Vidhan Sabha like one of its own departments where it can make its own rules. “The government has made a joke out of these sessions where MLAs cannot even ask questions related to their constituencies. What was the need of a session at all if we are not allowed to raise concerns in our call attention motion or during question hour? The government must realise the Vidhan Sabha is run in keeping with certain rules and these two slots are a very crucial part,” he said.

Congress MLA Rao Dan Singh termed the session mere eyewash. “We are supposed to stick to the address when we get up to speak. However, in case the Speaker allows us to raise our concerns during the discussion, we will not get any answers from the minister concerned. This makes the session a futile exercise,” he said.

Vidhan Sabha Speaker defends decision

Vidhan Sabha Speaker Gian Chand Gupta said all legislators would be given a chance to speak on the Governor’s Address. “My attempt will be to give everybody a chance to speak during the discussion on the address. Legislators can raise their issues and questions in the slot allocated to them. Also, in 20 days, we will have the Budget session wherein there will be question hour every day. This is only a special short session,” he said.