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Cong
stages walkout in HP Assembly
Tribune
News Service
SHIMLA, July 21 — Amidst noisy scenes, the
Congress today staged a walkout in the Himachal Vidhan
Sabha following refusal by the Chief Minister, Mr P.K.
Dhumal, to tender an apology for having
"misled" people by claiming that grave
irregularities were committed while raising loans through
commission agents by the previous Congress Government
headed by Mr Virbhadra Singh.
The issue was raised through a point of order by Mr
Rangila Ram Rao (Cong), who said while outside the House
the Chief Minister and other BJP leaders had been
claiming that irregularities were committed by the
previous government in the payment of commission, but
within the House in written reply to a question yesterday
Mr Dhumal had made it clear that the commission was paid
as per the guidelines of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
The agitated Congress members accused Mr Dhumal and his
partymen of having maligned in their election meetings
the then Congress Government by accusing it of having
committed irregularities in raising these loans.
Mr Virbhadra Singh was not present in the House when the
issue was raised.
A senior Congress legislator, Thakur Ram Lal, said Mr
Dhumal owed an apology for having levelled "wrong
and baseless" allegations against the previous
government.
He said during the recent assembly elections the BJP
leadership tried to create an impression that the then
Congress Government was hand in glove with certain
commission agents who raised loans for the state. Doubts
were sought to be created in the minds of the electorate
on the issue of raising of loans so as to erode the
credibility of the Congress leadership.
Thakur Ram Lal said the cat was now out of the bag with
Mr Dhumal himself admitting in reply to the question that
the commission was paid as per the rates fixed by the
RBI.
Mr J.B.L. Khachi (Cong) said this was a very serious
matter and the BJP leadership could not escape the
responsibility of having made irresponsible statements on
the issue.
All Congress members were on their feet when the Chief
Minister rose to clarify the position. Nothing was
audible in the din.
The Congress members shouted that Mr Dhumal was trying to
sidetrack the real issue when he said only incomplete
information was given in the reply to the yesterday's
question which did not come up during question hour. He
would have elaborated the real position, had the question
come up in the House.
He said Nabard had raised serious objections on the issue
of the cooperative bank having raised a loan of Rs 90
crore for which brokerage was paid during the Congress
regime.
Mr Dhumal reiterated that the government would come out
with a White Paper in which financial irregularities of
the Virbhadra Singh government would be listed.
He said he would give a detailed statement on the issue
in the House today itself. However, the matter may come
up in the House tomorrow.
Other Congress legislators joined Thakur Ram Lal in
saying that the Chief Minister's reply to the yesterday's
question was exhaustive as details of all loans raised
during the four year rule of the Virbhadra Singh
government were mentioned in the reply. They alleged that
the Chief Minister was now trying to wriggle out of the
situation which has been created due to his reply.
Mr Dhumal made it clear that he had an open mind on the
entire issue and the truth would come out in the White
Paper. He said not all aspects were touched in reply to
the yesterday's question. The White Paper would give
details of the loans which were raised through the HPSEB,
the Forest Corporation and other institutions on
commission basis for the previous government.
Not satisfied with this, the Congress members walked out
of the House.
Mr J.P. Nadda, Parliamentary Affairs Minister, said the
walkout by the Congress members despite the Chief
Minister's announcement that he would give a statement on
the issue was condemnable. The Congress members were
trying to divert the real issue, he added.
Later, addressing newsmen in the Opposition lounge,
Thakur Ram Lal, Mr J.B.L. Khachi, Mrs Vidya Stokes and Mr
Kaul Singh claimed that the Chief Minister's reply to the
yesterday's question has vindicated the position of the
Congress.
They did not agree with the Chief Minister that the reply
was incomplete. These legislators pointed out that rule
55 of the Rules and Procedures for conduct of business of
the House lays down that "answers given in the House
should be complete and as far as possible, each part
there of shall be answered separately".
They said Mr Dhumal should own or disown the reply to the
question.
They said that any statement of the Chief Minister on the
issue would be irrelevant now as he had already said in
his reply that the payment of commission was as per the
guidelines of the RBI.
On the other hand, Mr Dhumal told newsmen that there was
non question of his seeking an apology. He would come out
with facts on the issue, he added. |
