Cong stages walkout over delay in action on privilege notice

Immediately after the Question Hour,Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Vidya Stokes asked the Speaker about the status of the notice,which Bharati had served on the opening day of the Winter Session on Monday.

Pradesh Congress Committee president Kaul Singh Thakur,too,conveyed displeasure over the delay in initiating action or referring the issue to the MLAs’ privileges committee. “It does not require so much time for action on the notice,” he claimed.

The issue pertains to a function at the Ambedkar Bhawan here where Bharati was invited by the Department of Social Justices,but the invitation was later abruptly withdrawn,apparently due to political considerations.

In response to Stokes’s query,the Speaker said he had asked the department concerned to reply to the notice and advised the agitated Congress leaders to wait for the reply.

This,however,did not satisfy the Opposition,which decided to stage a walkout,shouting slogans against the government for “not giving a fair treatment to Opposition members”.

The sloganeering continued outside the House even as Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal accused the Congress of being “irresponsible and casual” towards its role in the House. “The Congress government got this Vidhan Sabha built,spending crores of rupees,but now it has chosen to abstain from the business on non-issues,instead of contributing to the state’s development,” he added.

Dhumal said the government was open to discussion on all issues that the Opposition wanted to take up in the larger public interest. He assured action against government officials if it was found that the MLA was not given due importance.

J P Nadda,who holds the portfolio of parliamentary affairs,too,condemned the walkout by the Congress.

The CLP leader later justified the action and accused the government of not being sensitive towards the Opposition and the issues raised by it.