After it opened on a stormy note on Tuesday, the Uttarakhand Assembly’s monsoon session in Gairsain was suspended indefinitely after the Congress spent the second day protesting against the alleged rigging of the zila panchayat election.
Scheduled for four days, the session wound up at noon after nine bills were passed through a voice vote. All this while, the opposition was in the Well of the House, sloganeering against the Nainital zila panchayat election, in which five members were allegedly kidnapped to keep them away from voting. On Tuesday, the election results declared the BJP as the winner, narrowly defeating the Congress by a vote.
On Tuesday, the entire Question Hour was washed out with the Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, Yashpal Arya, and MLA Pritam Singh demanding discussion under Rule 310 on the alleged rigging and the law and order situation.
This continued through the session on Wednesday, even as several crucial Bills, including the Minority Education Institutions and Freedom of Religion (Amendment) Bills, were passed. A communication by the BJP said that the stipulation mandating a cap on the number of non-minority students at a minority educational institution was deleted after factoring in the dissent of Kashipur BJP MLA Trilok Singh Cheema.
The 70-member assembly has 20 Congress, one BSP, two independents, and 47 BJP MLAs. The current session was being conducted in Chamoli’s Gairsain, the summer capital of the state.
2 resignations from House panel
After the session was called off, Yashpal Arya and Pritam Singh wrote to Speaker Ritu Khanduri Bhushan, tendering resignation from the Business Advisory Committee. In the letter, the duo said that over the past several Assembly sessions, the atmosphere in the Business Advisory Committee has been one of arbitrariness based on the majority strength the BJP enjoyed. For the current session, as per the tentative agenda that the Assembly had circulated to the members prior to the meeting of the Business Advisory Committee, the session was to be convened from August 19 at least until August 22, the letter said.
“In the meeting of the Business Advisory Committee held on August 18, it was decided to hold proceedings only for August 19 and to convene another meeting after the sitting of August 19. However, no such meeting was called on August 19,” it said. Further, the leaders said that the government ended the session indefinitely in the forenoon.
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“Before taking this decision, the government did not convene the Business Advisory Committee meeting nor take its members into confidence. It is evident that the government is adopting a dictatorial approach in running the House. To adjourn the Assembly convened at Bhararisain within two days is a great betrayal of the people of Uttarakhand,” they added, resigning from the post of members of the Committee.
On Tuesday night, the opposition MLAs had spent the night in the House, marking their protest.
CM hits back
At a press conference later in the day, CM Pushkar Singh Dhami said that since the first day, the opposition had been attempting to sabotage the session. “The question hour was completely blown off. Discussions under the rules of procedure and conduct of business couldn’t be initiated because of the disruption. The biggest discussion should be on the disaster in the state as many parts, such as Dharali and Pauri, have been reeling under distress. We wanted to discuss this, and they knew that if we did this, they wouldn’t have much to say. They tore up the agenda papers, press notes and broke the mics. We are passing important Bills, those of madrasas and anti-conversion… Shouldn’t this be encouraged? We were going to discuss this,” he said.
Emphasising the “necessity” of such action, the CM said, “We have brought in action like imprisonment for life because we need to stop demographic changes. We have to ensure that the lives of our sisters and daughters are not destroyed and their dignity is protected.” Dhami also said that the government was working to address the law and order situation in the wake of the Nainital zila panchayat election.
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The Congress condemned the suspension of the Assembly, alleging that it is an anti-Gairsain stance taken by the BJP government. Senior vice-president (organisation), Suryakant Dhasmana, said that opposition legislators had to discuss issues relating to their constituencies. “The law and order situation in the state is deteriorating, and most districts are facing natural disasters. The MLAs wanted the House to discuss these issues under rule 310, but were not allowed. The BJP is responsible for the pandemonium,” he said.