Speaker chairs all-party meeting

Vidhan Sabha Speaker Kuldeep Pathania chaired an all-party meeting before the start of the monsoon session of the Assembly here today.

Pathania said that he was confident that the ruling and Opposition members would cooperate with him in the smooth conduct of the session. “I have held discussions with both sides to ensure that the 12 sittings of the session prove to be constructive,” he added.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Harshwardhan Chauhan, Leader of the Opposition Jai Ram Thakur, Congress Deputy Chief Whip Kewal Pathania and BJP Chief Whip Sukh Ram Chaudhary attended the meeting.

The Speaker said that till today, the MLAs had submitted 1,018 questions, which had been forwarded to the government. He added that many important Bills would be tabled in the House during the session.

Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said that it would be better if the Opposition engaged in constructive debates and did not walk out, as a lot of effort goes into collecting information on questions and issues raised during the session. Chauhan said that he was hopeful that constructive debates were held and there was an optimum use of the 12 sittings.

The Leader of the Opposition said that he was hopeful that constructive discussions would be held and the Speaker would give an ample opportunity to the Opposition to raise its issues. He added that the grave financial health of the state, closure of government institutions opened by the previous BJP government and registration of FIRs against the disaster-affected people of Seraj were among the issues that would be raised in the House.

Thakur said that considering large-scale damage caused due to unprecedented heavy rain during the ongoing monsoon season, the House must discuss the important issue on priority.