Opines that the issue of organizing the assembly session should not be politicized
Thursday, 17 November 2022 | PNS | DEHRADUN
The Speaker of the Uttarakhand assembly Ritu Khanduri has said that the issue of organizing the assembly session should not be politicized. Interacting with the media persons at her office in Vidhan Sabha here on Wednesday, the Speaker said that the decision of holding the upcoming winter session of the assembly in Dehradun was taken due to extreme cold conditions prevailing in Gairsain. She said that efforts are being made to ensure that the next session (budget session) is organized in Gairsain.
Khanduri said that all preparations for the winter session of the assembly starting from November 29 have been made. She said that the Vidhan Sabha secretariat has received the questions of the members and expressed hope that the MLAs would enthusiastically participate in the discussions during the session. The Speaker hoped that the members would raise more and more questions for their constituencies during the session.
The statement of the Speaker that there should be politics over the place of the session comes in wake of a debate going on in the political and social circles on the issue. The opposition Congress is accusing the government of ignoring Gairsain, the summer capital of the State. This year’s budget session was not organized in Gairsain as the administration dithered to holding the session there during the peak of Char Dham Yatra.
It is worth mentioning here that no session has been organized in Gairsain during the tenure of Pushkar Singh Dhami as chief minister (CM). In March 2021, the budget session of the Uttarakhand assembly was organized in Gairsain and after that, no session has been organized there. Interestingly during this session the then CM Trivendra Singh Rawat was replaced.
The State government is expected to table many important bills including the amendment in the religious conversion laws in the house during the upcoming winter session. The government would also bring the supplementary budget during the session.
The opposition Congress has made it clear that it would raise the issues of increasing unemployment, the examination paper leak case of the Uttarakhand Subordinate Services Selection Commission (UKSSC), recruitment scams in different departments of government, the backdoor appointments in Vidhan Sabha, price rise and deteriorating law and order condition. The Congress would also try to corner the government in the Ankita Bhandari murder case and on the subject of women’s safety.
