Monsoon session likely to be stormy affair
Shimla, Aug. 18 -- In the rain-battered Himachal Pradesh, the monsoon session, commencing on August 18, is likely to be a stormy affair with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) expected to corner the Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu-led Congress government over the handling of disaster, reintroducing the lottery system, and failing to deliver on development promises even after nearly three years in power.
Meanwhile, the Congress is planning to hit back with the issue of inadequate help from the Centre.
For the monsoon session, the Vidhan Sabha has received 830 questions of which 679 are starred questions while 151 are unstarred questions. Most of the questions are related to the recent rain related incidents only.
Leader of Opposition and former Himachal Pradesh chief minister Jai Ram Thakur said that disaster relief, lottery policy, and issues related to unemployment and youth protests will be key matters during the monsoon session of the assembly.
The BJP will be targeting the state government for the slow pace of disaster response in the state after recent floods and rains.
After meeting of the BJP legislators in Shimla on Sunday evening, MLA Randhir Sharma, said that during the assembly session, the Congress government will be held accountable by the Opposition.
"The way the ruling party has been unjust to the people of the state, did not accept any demands of the employees, shut down institutions across the state or transferred already running institutions, adopted a highly negative attitude during the disaster, and registered false FIRs across the state will be taken up. Even false cases were filed against the BJP state president, BJP MLAs, and disaster-affected people," he said.
As per the state disaster management authority (SDMA), the state has recorded 261 deaths between June 20 and August 16, as the state witnessed 63 landslides, 74 flashfloods and 34 cloudbursts.
The government will also be bringing in a resolution to once again appeal for special financial help from the central government.
Even in 2023, the assembly had passed a resolution seeking Rs.10,000 crore special relief aid from the Centre. Since then, the Congress has been accusing the BJP for not supporting the move.
However, this time, the BJP delegation has met central leaders and urged for special relief package. The Congress is likely to corner the BJP over the area-specific disaster package demand.
The Himachal government is going to bring a bill against drug abuse, along with HP public examination (Prevention of unfair means) Bill, 2025, to check cheating in the exams.
Also, amid the ongoing tussle between the state government and Raj Bhawan over the issue of appointments of vice-chancellor at two agriculture universities in the state, Dr YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry (Nauni, Solan) and CSK Himachal Pradesh Krishi Vishvavidyalaya (Palampur), the government is likely to bring an amendment bill to withdraw the Himachal Pradesh Agriculture, Horticulture and Forestry University (Amendment) Bill, 2024.
The assembly, last year, had passed an amendment bill in the assembly regarding the appointment of VC's in both the universities, which was sent for the approval of the governor. The governor recently has sent the bill back with some objections, which has increased the conflict.
The state government is likely to amend the bill in wake of the objections....
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