4 min readFeb 17, 2026 08:50 AM IST
First published on: Feb 17, 2026 at 08:50 AM IST
The Treasury Benches and the Opposition clashed over the order of business, particularly the discussion on the discontinuation of the Revenue Deficit Grant (RDG), on the first day of the Budget session on Monday. The government tabled a resolution under Rule 102 seeking a discussion on the impact of the discontinued RDG on the opening day.
The Leader of Opposition (LoP), Jai Ram Thakur, raised strong objections and argued that the customary Motion of Thanks to the Governor’s Address should have been taken up first. “There is a long custom and precedent when the budget sessions were started with the Motion of Thanks on the Governor’s address.”
However, despite the objection, state Assembly Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania allowed the House to proceed with the resolution under Rule 102, citing it within the rules.
Parliamentary Affairs and Industry Minister Harshwardhan Chauhan defended the resolution and said, “The RDG is the most important issue in the state at present… Definitely, there will be a motion of thanks to the Governor’s address.”
LoP Thakur initiated the debate and alleged that the government was well aware in advance about the RDG discontinuation but failed to control expenditure. “The state is in a serious financial crisis… In the coming days, even salaries, pensions and GPF of employees could face stress. Indeed, it is the state government which will have to make decisions but don’t expect that the opposition will support all of your decisions…”
On other hand, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu accused the previous BJP government of leaving behind a “huge debt burden”. He said the observations made by the Principal Secretary (Finance) reflected the true fiscal stress. The CM also said the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) would be implemented for government employees and there were no plans to privatise the state electricity board.
In his opening remarks, Thakur said the RDG had been discontinued for 17 states and not just Himachal. “Even Congress-ruled Karnataka had supported its discontinuation before the 16th Finance Commission. He further criticised the state for appointing CPSs despite fiscal stress, spending crores on related litigation before the High Court verdict against them, appointing around 90 government legal counsels in the Advocate General’s office and increasing honoraria of board chairpersons from Rs 30,000 to about Rs 1.30 lakh.”
Responding to Thakur, Sukhu called these charges “baseless” and dismissed the BJP’s allegations that Rs 10 crore was spent to defend CPS appointments in court. The CM also said during the BJP tenure, there were 72 government counsels in the Advocate General’s office. While his government had rationalised responsibilities among Deputy and Assistant Advocate Generals, leading to legal successes, he said.
Sukhu said his government prioritised relief over celebrations. “We did not hold celebrations but distributed relief material and provided Rs 8 lakh each to victims in Mandi for house construction,” he said, referring to Thakur’s home district.
The resolution under Rule 102 said, “The state had been receiving Revenue Deficit Grant (RDG) assistance under Articles 275 and 280 of the Constitution from the 5th to the 15th Finance Commissions. However, in accordance with the recommendations of the 16th Finance Commission, the central government has discontinued this grant from the coming financial year, creating conditions of financial stress in the state. In view of this, the House strongly recommends to the central government that the RDG earlier provided be restored in accordance with the state’s fiscal needs and revenue gap.”
Congress MLA from Theog and AICC spokesman Kuldeep Singh Rathore, and BJP MLA Randhir Sharma also participated in the debate. The debate on the resolution, which is still on, is expected to continue in the coming sittings.
Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu 
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