Stormy day: Cong-BJP slogans echo across Assembly premises

The third day of the Himachal Pradesh Vidhan Sabha’s winter session on Friday turned stormy, with unprecedented confrontations between Congress and BJP legislators who staged parallel protests both outside and inside the Assembly. The situation escalated into loud sloganeering, disruptions and a rare face-off between members of the ruling and opposition parties.

Before the House convened, Congress MLAs held a vocal protest at the Assembly Gate, accusing the Narendra Modi-led Union Government of blocking crucial financial assistance to the state. They alleged that despite the Centre’s announcement of a Rs 1,500-crore PDNA disaster relief package, not a single rupee had been released. Chanting “Sada Haq Ethe Rakh”, Congress members accused the Prime Minister of treating Himachal Pradesh with a “step-motherly attitude” and said withholding funds amounted to an assault on the state’s legitimate rights.

Inside the Assembly, the opposition BJP created a ruckus by stalling the Question Hour through continuous sloganeering. Leader of the Opposition Jai Ram Thakur, backed by senior MLAs Vipin Parmar and Randhir Sharma, strongly objected to Revenue Minister Jagat Singh Negi’s alleged use of “unparliamentary” language against the RSS, claiming it had lowered the dignity of the House. Thakur further pressed for an immediate discussion on pending demands of government employees and pensioners.

Although Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania assured the opposition that time would be allotted later for the discussion, BJP legislators stormed into the Well of the House, disrupting proceedings. With the uproar refusing to settle, the Speaker briefly adjourned the session.

Simultaneously, the BJP Legislative Party held a separate protest on the Assembly premises, accusing the Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu government of being “anti-employee”. BJP MLAs alleged delays in gratuity payments to retired staff, irregular medical allowance disbursals and neglect of other service-related concerns.

In a historic first, MLAs from both parties confronted each other directly on the Assembly grounds, trading slogans and escalating tensions. Taking cognisance of the incident, Speaker Pathania ruled that henceforth both ruling and Opposition parties must obtain prior permission from the Vidhan Sabha Secretariat before holding demonstrations. He said separate time slots would be assigned to prevent any future confrontation.

Now, permission needed for protests

Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania announced that both ruling and Opposition parties must obtain prior permission from the Vidhan Sabha Secretariat before staging any demonstration on Assembly premises

Separate time slots will be allotted to each side to prevent direct confrontations and ensure orderly conduct during the sessions