Dharamshala: The HP Assembly winter session began with a walk out by Congress. As soon as the Speaker of the Assembly started the proceedings of the session, Leader of Opposition Mukesh Agnihotri demanded a discussion on the adjournment motion under Rule 67. The chairman asked him to discuss it later under Rule 130, but the leader did not consider it and he started raising many questions on the government regarding the investment of Investors Meet, which was organised in Dharamshala on 7 – 8 November.
Agnihotri said that a large amount of money was misused in it. He said that the Investor Meet is a biggest scam ever happened in the state. He said that the government has spent crores in the name of Investors Meet. 16 crores were spent on temporary tents installation in police Ground Dharamshala. He said that the government should issue a white paper on the expenses incurred on the Investors Meet so that the state knows how much was spent on it. He also alleged that the government is plotting to sell the land of the state to outsiders. Amidst these allegations, members of the ruling party stood up and raised slogans. The members of the Opposition also stood up and started shouting slogans from the other side amid the sloganeering noise. There were loud slogans from both sides for some time after which the members of the opposition walked out of the House.
In the interaction with the media outside the House, Leader of Opposition Mukesh Agnihotri made many serious allegations against the government for organizing the Investors Meet. He said that the BJP government spent crores of state aimlessly for organizing the meet.
He said that the government has organized the event without proper preparation. 16 crores were spent only on putting up tents, where as the investors come here felt cheated. “This event became a BJP Meet instead of Investors Meet. Government should issue a white paper on the expenses incurred on this event and allow a discussion in the current assembly session .
While addressing the House after the ruling party’s walkout, Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur strongly condemned the ruling party’s ruckus and termed it as irresponsible behaviour of the opposition. The Chief Minister said that today is the first day of the winter session but the attitude of the congress party has shown , how responsible the opposition is to the house. He said that the government is ready to discuss this issue. The government has acted with honesty and transparency regarding this event.
He said , “during the Congress governments, they also tried to organize such events but due to their lack of vision and will, they could not succeed in it, at the same time, when our government has succeeded in organising it , they have problems.” CM said that as far as the expenses of Investors meet is concerned, the Himachal Government has spent the least as compared to Investors’ Meet conducted in other states of the country.
No subsidized food for MLAs – Ministers: Chief Minister
CM Jairam Thakur today announced the withdrawal of subsidy on food and snacks given to MLAs and ministers during assembly from the next session. Making a statement in the House, the CM said that recently, when we came to know about the subsidy cuts in the food of the members in Parliament, we have also decided to discuss with the opposition that the subsidy on food and snacks will be discontinued from the next budget session in Himachal too.
Arvind Sharma is an award winning bi-lingual journalist with more than 20 years of experience.
He has worked with Divya Himachal, Dainik Jagran, Dainik Bhasker, Vir Partap, Ajit and PTI.
In 2010, he was conferred the Himachal Kesri journalism award. He reports on the Tibetan Government in Exile, politics, sports, tourism and other topics. He lives in Dharamshala.
