The BJP walked out of the Himachal Pradesh Assembly on Wednesday, protesting the state government’s move to reduce the number of wards in the Shimla Municipal Corporation (SMC). The state assembly passed a bill in this regard on Tuesday. The bill was passed in the absence of the BJP members who had walked out on the issue of the removal of outsourced employees on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, immediately after the Question Hour, the BJP’s Randhir Sharma raised the issue of the reduction in wards in the SMC from 41 to 34 and asked why the government was promulgating ordinances just weeks before the start of the Vidhan Sabha session. The elections for 34 wards of the SMC were announced a day before the bill was passed, which is wrong, and the previous government had increased the number of wards as per rules, Sharma said, accusing the government of usurping the powers of the State Election Commission. He also criticised the government for changing the norms for the reservation of wards for the scheduled castes.
Accusing the government of tinkering with electoral rolls to win the elections, Leader of the Opposition Jai Ram Thakur said 11,000 votes had been added overnight. The government has assumed the functions of the State Election Commission, eroding its autonomy, and changed the rules three times on 15 March, 25 March, and 30 March to win elections, and some wards with a minimum number of women voters have been reserved for women, he alleges.
Refuting the allegations, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Harshwardhan Chauhan accused the opposition of not being serious and said that if the BJP was so concerned, it should not have left the House on Tuesday and participated in the debate.
Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri asked Thakur why his government did not hold the (civic body) elections on time and claimed that, apprehending defeat, the BJP is creating hurdles even now. Accusing the BJP of acting against the interests of the state, he said that the people will never forgive the party and added that the BJP had also opposed the water cess, which will accrue annual income of Rs 4,000 crore to the state.
