Tempers fly on last day of Haryana assembly session

Cong’s Kiran Choudhry protests rejection of 3 calling attention motions, Abhay walks out after being disallowed to speak on Jat stir

CHANDIGARH: Tempers ran high on the last day of the maiden session of the 14th Vidhan Sabha with senior Congress MLA Kiran Choudhry vehemently protesting the rejection of three calling attention motions and the lone INLD MLA Abhay Chautala staging a walkout after being denied to speak on an issue pertaining to the Jat stir.

The House saw heated arguments in the middle of the proceedings to pass the bills when Choudhry stood up and asked the Speaker why the three calling attention motions moved by her were rejected. The speaker reminded her that she was absent from the House on Tuesday when the said issues had been discussed by several members of the House, including chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar.

Gupta repeatedly asked her not to disrupt the proceedings but Choudhry held that the issues highlighted in her calling attention motions, which included stubble burning, problems faced by farmers and the common minimum programme of the BJP-Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) coalition government, required further discussion.

The rejection of these motions showed the lackadaisical intent of the BJP-JJP government in tackling issues of importance concerning the people of Haryana, she said, despite Gupta asking her to sit down.

The situation further aggravated when another senior Congress MLA, Raghuvir Singh Kadian started seeking the government’s response on an issue pertaining to the Jat stir. He was soon joined by the lone INLD

MLA Abhay Chautala, following which the Speaker instructed their comments be expunged.

The chief minister had to intervene when Kiran, Kadian and Abhay continued to speak on the said issues despite Gupta telling them that they could not speak without prior notice or in the middle of House proceedings to pass the Bills.

Khattar said the issue they raised had been discussed by the members and even the Governor’s address had a specific mention of it. Without mentioning Jat stir, Khattar said the government was committed to maintain brotherhood in the state. “The issue is subjudice as the same is still is in the court while some cases are also being investigated into by the CBI,” said Khattar.

Protesting the denial to speak on the issue, Abhay, however, staged a walk out.