Himachal Budget passed amid pandemonium
Pratibha Chauhan
Shimla, February 28
The Congress government managed to get the Budget for year 2024-25 passed amid utter chaos and pandemonium today. It thus overcame the crisis triggered by cross-voting by six Congress legislators in the favour of BJP candidate Harsh Mahajan in the Rajya Sabha election yesterday.
Budget passed in absence of Oppn
The Speaker put the Budget to vote in the absence of the BJP members. The Budget was passed through a voice vote in the presence of 34 Congress MLAs, including the Chief Minister. Sukhu demanded stern action against the BJP MLAs for their rowdy behaviour.
Cong issues whip
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Harshwardhan Chauhan said that the Congress had issued a whip to all its MLAs to remain present in the House. Since six MLAs defied the whip, they were liable to face action under the anti-defection law.
In what can be termed as a smart move, the Congress sought the disqualification of 15 BJP legislators for creating a ruckus in the chamber of Speaker Kuldeep Pathania twice yesterday. The moment the proceedings for the day started, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Harshwardhan Chauhan sought the disqualification of the 15 MLAs under Rule 319 for their rowdy behaviour and objectionable remarks against the Speaker.
The Speaker then ordered the suspension of the 15 BJP MLAs, whose names the Congress had mentioned, and asked them to leave the House immediately. However, a mayhem followed as the BJP legislators trouped into the well of the House while raising slogans against the Speaker for allegedly acting in a partisan manner. The treasury benches also resorted to sloganeering to counter the Opposition’s move.
The situation in the House at one point of time became tense as marshals tried to forcefully remove the suspended BJP MLAs. The suspended 15 BJP legislators were Jai Ram Thakur, Vipin Parmar, Randhir Sharma, Hans Raj, Vinod Kumar, Janak Raj, Balbir Verma, Lokinder Kumar, Trilok Jamwal, Surinder Shourie, Puran Chand, Dalip Thakur, Inder Singh Gandhi, Ranbir Nikka and Deep Raj. As the suspended MLAs refused to leave the House despite repeated pleas, the Speaker ordered the marshals to remove them.
As sloganeering continued and the BJP MLAs refused to move out, the Speaker adjourned the House till 12 noon. Infuriated at the Speaker’s decision, Una MLA Satpal Singh Satti climbed onto the podium and flung Pathania’s papers all over. Other BJP MLAs also threw the papers from the table of the Vidhan Sabha Secretary and other staff members.
While Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu and the Congress MLAs left the House, the BJP members remained seated on the floor and started singing patriotic songs. The marshals, numbering more than 50, again entered the House and requested the suspended MLAs to leave but the latter refused to budge.
Meanwhile, the marshals, including women, escorted seven suspended MLAs out of the House. “The Assembly is directionless. Though it was announced that the House will reassemble at 12 pm, nobody turned up,” said Thakur. Eventually, the BJP MLAs left for lunch.
As the House reconvened at 2 pm, Una MLA Satpal Satti raised the issue of the government having lost the majority following cross-voting by its MLAs. However, the Parliamentary Affairs Minister countered Satti and said that as the issue of the disqualification of the six Congress MLAs was sub-judice, it could not be discussed in the House.
Satti said that the government had been reduced to a minority and desperate efforts were being made to save it. He, along with other nine MLAs, then left the House.
