PIONEER EDGE NEWS SERVICE/Dehradun
The Bharatiya Janata Party has described the Congress’ announcement of a gherao during the Gairsain Vidhan Sabha session later this month as an attempt to add another dark chapter to the book of negative politics. BJP State president and Rajya Sabha MP Mahendra Bhatt sarcastically remarked that the Congress wasted five years of the Assembly by gheraoing the house outside, creating ruckus inside and sleeping on public issues. Instead of beginning sessions with gherao and ending them with ruckus, the opposition would be better off participating in the final session with a positive attitude.
It will be recalled that Congress State in-charge Kumari Selja had said that the party would stage a protest during the Gairsain Assembly session demanding justice for Ankita Bhandari. Responding to media questions about the Congress leader’s announcement, Bhatt described it as negative and purposeless politics. Strongly criticising the Congress stance, he said, “It is extremely disappointing to know that the Congress’ stance has remained unchanged even in the past five years. The Assembly is the highest chamber of democracy where public representatives can discuss the problems of their respective constituencies and issues of public interest. Many such opportunities have arisen during the current Assembly term, but unfortunately, the irresponsible and insensitive attitude of the Congress party and the opposition has remained unchanged. There has hardly been a single occasion when the opposition has not begun the session with a gherao or protest. In fact, opposition leaders and MLAs do not live among the public and are always looking for such opportunities to create chaos just to gain political traction,” he said.
Recalling the history of the past five years, he said that the opposition’s entire focus was not only on creating ruckus outside the house but also inside it. The public is witness to the fact that opposition MLAs neither raise public issues nor make any effective efforts to address the problems of the region. On the other hand, when ruling party MLAs or the government hold serious discussions on important topics, bills, or public interest issues, the opposition is constantly seen creating ruckus and noise, trying to distract attention and delay the discussion. It is very unfortunate that many opposition MLAs, including Congress, were frequently seen creating chaos and commotion in the house. Furthermore, the Uttarakhand opposition holds the record for causing ruckus during the day and sleeping under blankets at night, he said. “It is our moral responsibility to make this final session a success and public benefit for the State’s development and welfare. Therefore, forgetting past experiences, the opposition should reconsider its commitment to utilise this session to the maximum extent possible for the public good. The public knows everything, recognising what is inside and what is outside,” he added.
