Himachal Budget Session: Membership of CM’s Wife Came Up Amidst Chaos During Question Hour on Fourth Day
Opposition walkout from the House
Shimla, March 13 – The Question Hour of the fourth day of Himachal Pradesh Assembly Budget Session on Thursday saw exchange of heated exchanges and chaos. The session went into a tailspin when BJP MLA from Hamirpur Ashish Sharma had the audacity to charge air on serious allegations of violation of election code of conduct in last year’s by-poll of Dehra Assembly constituency.
Sharma claimed that the the ruling government was distributing lakhs of rupees to women’s group from the Kangra Bank during the by-election and that it violated the rules of election. He cited the timing of the financial transfers, saying that the moves were intended to affect the outcome of the election.
Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri, while defending the state government, said that the administration is still collecting facts and information in this regard. He further explained that the distribution of funds to women’s groups was no different from the central government depositing PM Kisan Samman Nidhi funds into farmers’ accounts during the elections. The actions were consistent with programs already in place and therefore did not break any rules, he argued.
But that justification did little to calm the ruckus in the Assembly. The Opposition parties, the BJP in particular, dismissed the justification, arguing it was wrong to distribute money during the period before an election, and that it could have influenced voters. Isolated and drawing protest from opposition members, the government’s tensions escalated and many opposition members walked out of the House.
Leader of Opposition Jairam Thakur upped the ante by demanding cancellation of the membership of Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu’s wife, Kamlesh Thakur, who won the Dehra by-election. Thakur had contended that the disbursement of money to women’s groups during the electoral process had a significant impact on the electoral process and hence her election be set aside.
The PM Kisan Samman Nidhi installment, mentioned by the Deputy Chief Minister, only added fuel to the opposition barrage, though the funds made available by the central scheme were not directly relevant to the district and any specific election-related action taken in Dehra, added the BJP.
The BJP has said he would challenge the results and seek cancellation of Kamlesh Thakur’s membership in the Election Commission and courts for allegedly violating the code of conduct.
The dispute has since become a flashpoint in this current session of the budget with both camps still at loggerheads over the legality of the actions undertaken during the Dehra by-election.
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