CHANDIGARH: Sloganeering and heated exchanges erupted between the treasury benches and opposition members on the first day of the monsoon session of the Himachal Pradesh Assembly today. The commotion stemmed from remarks made by Member of Parliament from Mandi, Kangana Ranaut, regarding the farmers’ agitation and the deteriorating law and order situation in the state.
Following the obituary references to former MLAs Tek Chand Dogra, Narayan Singh Swami, and Daulat Chowdhary, Leader of the Opposition Jai Ram Thakur urged Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania to allow an adjournment motion to discuss the worsening law and order situation. Rejecting the adjournment motion, Pathania stated that the matter could be raised later, prompting BJP members to stage a walkout.
Thakur highlighted several incidents, including the beating of three people by fifteen assailants in Baddi, resulting in one fatality; an attack on a young woman in Palampur; and a shootout involving the son of a former Congress MLA in Bilaspur.
He claimed that ‘mafia raj’ prevailed in the Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh area, yet the government had not addressed these issues. Police investigations into the Bilaspur shooting, where bullets were fired at a youth in broad daylight outside the district court on June 20, revealed that Puranjan Thakur, the elder son of former Congress MLA Bambar Thakur, allegedly hired the shooter from Punjab.
Intervening in the matter, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu stated that only urgent issues are discussed. He noted that while the Opposition is demanding a discussion on a gang war involving a Haryana gang and another engaged in drug trafficking, natural disasters are currently deemed more urgent. “If the discussion had been about the loss and damage due to heavy rains, we would have agreed to it,” Sukhu said.
He emphasised that the former MLA’s son had been imprisoned within hours, and strong actions were being taken against lawbreakers.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Harshwardhan Chauhan acknowledged that law and order is an important issue but stated that it did not warrant an adjournment motion and could be discussed under Rule 130. “We want a discussion on law and order, as the Mahila Congress staged a demonstration against a BJP MLA and the remarks of BJP MP Kangana Ranaut regarding farmers,” he said.
