Shimla: Unaware about the central government having pressed for registering of a money laundering case against Virbhadra Singh in a Delhi court today, opposition BJP was off to a stormy start here, demanding resignation of the chief minister for loss of mandate in the parliamentary polls.
Adopting an aggressive position on the very first day of the 24 day long monsoon session, the opposition even staged a walkout after speaker BBL Butail restrained them for raising the resignation demand.
When slogan shouting and other attempts to disrupt the house proceedings failed, the opposition then staged a walkout. The speaker did not allow the issue to be raised saying that no notice had been given.
The question hour was not taken up as the time allotted was consumed in making obituary references to 6 members who died in the intervening period from the last session.
As the house prepared to take up the business listed for the day, senior BJP leader Suresh Bhardwaj intervened and asked chief minister Virbhadra Singh to resign on moral grounds for the Congress party under his stewardship had lost the mandate in the Lok Sabha elections.
“The chief minister’s wife lost the election on her Lok Sabha seat (Mandi) and even from assembly seat (Shimla rural) that has elected the chief minister, the BJP candidate led. In fact of the 68 assembly segments in Himachal, BJP candidates had clear leads on 59 of them, said Bhardwaj.
Upset by the walkout, health minister Kaul Singh said in a house devoid of the opposition members, “the state government has a clear mandate given to us by the people in the 2012 assembly elections.”
Making the point that Lok Sabha polls are contested on national issues and are different from state assembly elections, he said, “the walkout was uncalled for and the opposition was making unnecessary hue and cry in trying to force an issue that does not hold.”
As Editor, Ravinder Makhaik leads the team of media professionals at Hill Post.
In a career spanning over two decades through all formats of journalism in Electronic, Print and Online Media, he brings with him enough experience to steer this platform. He lives in Shimla.
