Assembly session: Speaker calls all party meet on Tuesday

Himachal Pradesh legislative assembly speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania has called an all-party meeting on Tuesday to ensure the smooth functioning of the upcoming winter session.

Pathania reached Tapovan, Dharamshala Legislative Assembly Secretariat, on Monday to review the ongoing preparations for the upcoming winter session scheduled from December 18 to 21.

Parliamentary affairs minister Harshwardhan Chauhan, Leader of Opposition Jai Ram Thakur, deputy chief Whip of the Himachal Pradesh government Kewal Singh Pathania and BJP MLA Sukh Ram Chaudhary will participate in the meeting. The meeting will be held on Tuesday at 12.30 pm in the Speaker’s office.

Notably, the Opposition had skipped the all-party meeting convened by speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania before the monsoon session of the assembly held in August.

Stormy start expected

The upcoming winter session is expected to have a stormy start with the Opposition BJP already gearing up to corner the Congress government over many issues. On the first day of the session (December 18), the Bharatiya Janta Party will hold a protest rally (Aakrosh Pradarshan) in Dharamshala’s Zorawar stadium against the two years of Congress government’s “misrule”. The opposition leaders are expected to corner the government over its alleged discrimination with the Kangra district.

The Opposition is also ready to bring up the issue of the construction of the Himachal central university campus at Jadrangal near Dharamshala during the House proceedings.

Following the strong reaction from unemployed youth to the state government’s guest teacher policy, the Opposition is likely to amplify the issue of unemployment in the House. Meanwhile, the unemployed youth association has warned of staging a sit-in protest against the policy.

The political face-off between the Congress leaders and the Opposition BJP has intensified in recent days. While the BJP accuses the Congress of failing to fulfil its promises made to the public, the Congress has retaliated, alleging that the BJP attempted to create political instability and spread misinformation to mislead the public.

Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania will give the details of the session on Tuesday during a press briefing.