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All in a
day
- Oath to newly elected MLAs
- Election of Speaker and Dy
Speaker
- Governor’s Address
- Discussion on Governor’s
Address
- Vote of confidence
- Obituary references
- Motion of thanks
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Chandigarh, October 26
Many an eyebrow is being raised at the tearing hurry in which the Congress government in Haryana plans to finish the first session of the new assembly.
On the tentative programme of the session starting October 28 is administeration of the oath of office to the newly elected MLAs, election of Speaker and Deputy Speaker, obituary references, the Governor’s Address, vote of confidence as directed by the Governor, discussion on the Governor’s Address and motion of thanks to the Governor for his address. All this in one day!
It is obvious that the new members will get little time to discuss the Governor’s Address, which is the policy statement of the government, and, therefore, an important document. Why does the government want to rush through the session? Is it to minimise the “exposure” of its supporting MLAs to preying eyes?
Another question on the minds of many is whether the state has got a Cabinet, which approves the text of the Governor’s Address before he reads it out in the House. Does Chief Minister alone constitute the Cabinet?
This question also came up when
Om Prakash Chautala was sworn in as Chief Minister after the fall of the HVP government in 1999. According to the then Advocate-General of the state, Mohan Jain, who is now Additional Solicitor General of India, Article 164 of the Constitution says: “The Chief Minister shall be appointed by the Governor.”
The other ministers are to be appointed by the Governor on the advice of the CM. In this case, the Governor has appointed Bhupinder Singh Hooda as CM and has asked him to prove his majority on the floor of the House within a stipulated timeframe. Hooda seems to have decided to first prove his majority in the assembly before advising the Governor on the appointment of other ministers.
If the tentative programme of the session remains unchanged, the members would get several opportunities to express their confidence, or lack of it, in the government on the same day.
First, the election of Speaker and Deputy Speaker. If the government nominees fail to get elected, the government falls. If the motion of thanks fails, even then the government goes. And then of course is the confidence motion.
It would have been better if the session had been spread beyond one day and the members given enough time to debate the Governor’s Address. But then
the Haryana assembly has always been known for commotion than intelligent debate.
