BJP is yet to decide whether to participate in the two-day session of the State Assembly slated to start at Gairsain on November 17. Stating this on Saturday, the leader of the Opposition, Ajay Bhatt said that BJP legislature Party meeting to decide the matter is yet to be held. “Once the meeting is held we would decide our course of action,” he said. Asked to comment on the Opposition party choosing to keep things in the balance, the state parliamentary affairs minister Indira Hridayesh said that BJP being a party prone to propaganda, it is difficult to guess what they would do. However, in a reconciliatory tone, she added that if the party has any particular agenda the leaders should inform them and the matter would be taken up for discussion during the session.
Observers say that it would not come as a surprise in case the saffron party decides to give the session a skip, citing the fact that the Speaker Govind Singh Kunjwal had arbitrarily declared the budget passed by voice vote on the fateful evening of March 18 amidst slugfest following the revolt staged by nine Congress MlAs, including the former chief minister Vijay Bahuguna and the cabinet minister Harak Singh Rawat. “Intent on milking the issue in full during the election campaigning, the party might stay away from the session being held for the third time in Gairsain since the present Assembly was formed in 2012.
They would perhaps argue that it is not possible for them to participate in the session to be presided over by the same Speaker who allegedly throttled their voice by declaring the budget passed despite the Harish Rawat Government being reduced to a minority,” an observer said.
Things followed at a baffling pace as the Harish Rawat Government was first dismissed and the President’s Rule was imposed and later the government was reinstated following intervention of the judiciary.
The volatility haunting the state for nearly two months settled down to normalcy after the Harish Rawat Government won the Supreme Court-monitored floor test on May 10 after the Speaker had disqualified the nine rebel MlAs.
However, the economic uncertainty prevailed as there was confusion over the budget being passed. Citing the confusion, the Centre passed the budget for four months in the Parliament. To end the crisis once and for all, the Harish Rawat Government had called the session of Vidhan Sabha in July to bail out the state from the financial crisis.
During the session, the Opposition had submitted a no- confidence motion against the Speaker. However, a high drama unfolded as the Speaker asked then MlA Navprabhat to chair the House.
Navprabhat sought voice vote on the issue of the no-confidence motion and declared it rejected with the BJP MlAs having walked out. He later brought Kunjwal back on the seat of the Speaker, incurring wrath of the BJP.