Himachal assembly deadlock: Sukhu says ready to discuss all issues

Shimla: The deadlock between the ruling Congress and opposition BJP in the Himachal Pradesh assembly ended on Tuesday with Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu assuring the house that his government was ready to discuss all issues raised by the BJP including financial position under rule 67 (adjournment motion).

Urging the opposition to cooperate in the smooth conduct of proceedings, he said the house functions under rules and the speaker gave sufficient time to it, adding had the opposition raised its issues in a right manner, the impasse would have been avoided.

As soon as the house assembled, leader of the opposition Jai Ram Thakur raised the issue of deadlock through point of order and said the situation was turning serious and on Monday, an adjournment motion to discuss the financial position was not allowed and the opposition also wanted to raise the issue of non-payment of salary and pension to employees.

There was no personal resentment against the speaker but opposition members were hurt by some words used by him during the by-elections and wanted clarification and gave the no-confidence motion against the speaker in that background, he added.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Harshwardhan Chauhan also said that he wants the house to run smoothly and it was the longest monsoon session, adding that on Monday, Thakur did not refer to adjournment motion and Vipin Parmar spoke about the speaker.

He also refuted Thakur's charge that the speaker was not giving priority to the agenda of the opposition and pointed out that out of 10 issues raised under rule 61, 62 and 63, eight pertained to BJP members.

Randhir Sharma (BJP) said the parliamentary affairs minister was trying to mislead the house and added that he tried to raise issue under Rule 67 thrice on Monday but no permission was given.

Revenue Minister Jagat Singh Negi said the opposition was not serious about raising issues under Rule 67 and said sometimes members fail to exercise restraint on words but the opposition should not be upset.

Vipin Singh Parmar (BJP) said the main issue was hurting the sentiments of BJP legislators and in case discussion was allowed on Monday, the matter would have ended. He also accused the government of misleading the people about the financial crisis.

Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri said everyone knows about the nature of the speaker and the BJP was not clear whether its fight was against the speaker or the government.

Satpal Singh Satti (BJP) said that there were some members in the treasurary benches who didn't want the house to run smoothly.

Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania said his conduct has been completely impartial during the past six sessions of the assembly and he has given enough time to the opposition, especially to the leader of the opposition as the role of opposition was very important in democracy.

He said that political leaders use words for political gains during elections and he might have also used some words in the assembly by-elections to raise the morale of party workers and if opposition wants, he was prepared to clarify his words at a press conference.

He said that a no-confidence motion against him was rejected as it was not in accordance with rules. The notice has to be entered in this list of business which was not done and moreover 14 days notice has to be given and the session concludes on September 9.

On Monday, the BJP had given notice of no-confidence motion against Pathania citing his behaviour "inside and outside" the assembly as the cause to the Secretary of state assembly and later submitted a memorandum to the governor.