BJP creates deadlock over own adjournment motion

The BJP legislative party found itself in an embarrassing position on the second day of the Himachal Pradesh Vidhan Sabha’s winter session on Thursday after its own members stalled the continuation of a discussion on the adjournment motion they had initiated a day earlier.

On Wednesday, the opening day of the session, the BJP had moved an adjournment motion to discuss the state government’s confrontation with the State Election Commission over panchayat elections. But when proceedings began on Thursday, the discussion could not resume as BJP MLAs themselves sought to first take up the Question Hour as per the schedule issued by the Vidhan Sabha secretariat. Leader of the Opposition Jai Ram Thakur insisted the House follow the listed business, while Parliamentary Affairs Minister Harshwardhan Chauhan urged the Speaker to continue the discussion on panchayat elections before moving to the Question Hour.

The disagreement created a brief impasse, delaying the House proceedings by 35 minutes. Normalcy was restored only after Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania issued a ruling to proceed with the adjournment motion discussion. At the same time, he also clarified that, going forward, the Question Hour will always take precedence over adjournment motions in future.