Uproar in Himachal House over land deals

Pratibha Chauhan

Tribune News Service

Shimla, September 15

The Congress again staged a walkout from the Vidhan Sabha here today while insisting on a debate under Rule 67 on the issue of benami land deals in the state.

The Congress created an uproar in the House after Speaker Vipin Parmar turned down the request for a debate on the land deals. It was Rajinder Rana, who even before the Question Hour could start, urged the Speaker to allow a debate under Rule 67 for which he and some other MLAs had given a notice in the morning.

Notwithstanding the Speaker’s repeated pleas to let the listed business to be taken up, the Congress MLAs remained adamant on a debate. “I have sent your notice to the government and the issue will be taken up once a reply is received,” he said. Parmar remained adamant on not allowing a debate and asked the Opposition members to place on record in the House all the documents they have so that these could be looked into.

This enraged the Congress MLAs, who started raising slogans against the government. “I fail to understand why the government is running away from holding a debate on land deals. What does it have to hide?” he said. As the Speaker reiterated that a debate could not be allowed till a reply is received from the government, the Congress MLAs staged a walkout.

He said though the Speaker allowed a debate on Covid, the Opposition did not take it seriously. The Opposition must act with patience as collecting information on land deals from across the state could take time, he added .

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Suresh Bhardwaj also lambasted the Congress for behaving in the “most irresponsible manner”.