Himachal Budget session off to stormy start, BJP stages walkout

Pratibha Chauhan

Shimla, March 14

The Budget session of the Vidhan Sabha started on a stormy note with the BJP staging a walkout demanding the restoration of the MLA Local Area Development (MLALAD) Fund that the state government had stopped.

Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said that the fund had only been stalled and not stopped but the BJP members left the House, raising slogans against the government. “I have always fought for the rights of the MLAs and if the revenue for the third quarter is encouraging, we will consider reviving the fund,” he added.

There was complete pandemonium in the House as the treasury benches and the opposition members traded charges and blamed each other for the grave financial health of the state. The Chief Minister said, “My government wants to bring about a change in the system, as people have given a big responsibility to the Congress.”

He said, “I was surprised to see that the previous BJP government had opened over 900 institutions during the last six months of its tenure without staff and a budgetary provision. If we had not denotified these institutions, we would have required at least Rs 5,000 crore to run them.”

Sukhu said that his government would bring a White Paper on the financial health of the state so that people could know the unfulfilled liabilities that it had inherited along with a debt of Rs 75,000 crore. He added that Congress MLAs had also demanded the restoration of the fund but the grave financial health of the state could not be ignored.

Leader of the Opposition Jai Ram Thakur said that the MLALAD Fund was the right of the legislators, as they spend it on meeting people’s demands. “Rs 2 crore received under the fund is not for the MLAs but for the benefit of common people,” he added.

He alleged that the government was misleading people on the financial position of the state. “We, too, had honoured the liabilities left by the Virbhadra Singh government in 2017. The debt burden at that time was Rs 48,000 crore and it rose to Rs 69,600 crore during our rule,” he said.

Randhir Sharma and Hans Raj, too, insisted that a debate be allowed so that the Chief Minister could tell the House about the reason for stopping the MLALAD Fund.

Issue under consideration of Chief Minister: Chauhan

• Parliamentary Affairs Minister Harshwardhan Chauhan said that the issue concerned all MLAs and was under the consideration of the Chief Minister.
• Sullah MLA Vipin Parmar said stopping the MLALAD Fund was an anti-people decision. Nine MLAs had given notice under Rule 67 to allow a debate on the issue.
• Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri said that the state was on the brink of financial bankruptcy due to loans raised by the previous BJP government.