Former Himachal Pradesh chief minister Jai Ram Thakur last week criticized the Congress government for the upcoming four-day winter session of the assembly, which begins on December 18, calling it the “shortest in the state’s history” and accusing it of being “afraid to face it”. Opposition.” CM Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu has defended the move, saying the four days will give enough time to raise and discuss issues if the BJP does not resort to sloganeering and walkouts.
However, when it comes to shorter House sessions, the Thakur-led BJP government between 2017 and 2022 did not fare well. After coming to power in December 2017, the Thakur government held its third assembly session in 2018 for four days between December 9 and 12. Similarly, in 2020, the winter session of the BJP government was held for five days from December 7 and 11. The last assembly session of the Thakur government – the monsoon session of 2022 also lasted for four days from August 10 to 13. Meanwhile, the 2021 and 2019 winter sessions were held for six days each.
Sakhu government has continued this. Last year’s winter session was five days between December 19 and 23. Before that, after forming the government in December 2022, the Sakhu government convened a three-day session, where legislators took oath.
Asked about the short session, Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania said: “As Speaker, my job is to inform what the government proposes. It is the responsibility of the government and the opposition to set the agenda in the House. Four days will be enough to work. If they tell me Then I am ready to run the House till 10 o’clock.”
Pointing out that Himachal Pradesh along with Kerala holds the highest number of House sittings annually, Pathania said Haryana and Punjab Assemblies are usually convened for a two-day session. “With this year’s Lok Sabha elections, most states have had short sessions and Himachal is no different,” he added.
Thakur also questioned the timing of Sakhu’s absence in some parts of the upcoming session. “Reports suggest that the Chief Minister will not be present on even two of these four days. What is the purpose of organizing such a convention? Shouldn’t the session be fixed based on the Chief Minister’s availability? The Assembly is meant to discuss the problems of the people and find solutions to the problems of the state. It is reprehensible to conduct the session only to meet the quorum,’ said the leader of the opposition party.
Sakhu said that the opposition is only doing politics of words. “For example, take ‘samosa wa murga’ (the row raised by the BJP). They have done PhDs on it,” the chief minister said.
What does the rule say?
Article 174 of the Constitution provides that two meetings of the Provincial Assembly should not be held more than 6 months apart. However, it does not prescribe maximum or minimum days per meeting.
In 2002, a committee was formed to improve the efficiency of the legislature. The panel has recommended that meetings of assemblies with less than 70 members should be held for at least 50 days in a year and those with more than 70 members should hold meetings for 90 days.
Himachal Pradesh has a 68-member assembly, the Congress has 40 MLAs and the BJP has 28.
Why should you buy our membership?
You want to be the smartest in the room.
You want access to our award-winning journalism.
You don’t want to be confused and misinformed.
Choose your subscription package