The first day of the Budget Session of the J&K legislature was completely hijacked by the ‘United’ Opposition parties forcing the Governor to cut short the address to the joint session of both the Houses.
Soon after the arrival of the Governor in the central hall, the legislators belonging to Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and others shouted slogans and demanded arrest of former Congress Minister facing charges of sexual assault on woman doctor.
As chaos prevailed in the hall, the Governor started reading his address but he was repeatedly disrupted by the agitated legislators of the PDP who were heard raising the issue of unequal distribution of new administrative units in Kashmir valley. The issue of reopening of Pathribal encounter case and delivering justice to the victims was also raised by some Kashmir-based legislators sitting in the front rows.
The BJP legislators while exposing the poor performance of the Omar-led alliance Government also targeted the Deputy Chief Minister Tara Chand and demanded action against him as well.
The BJP legislators alleged that an arrest warrant has been issued against the junior Congress Minister following allegations of sexual assault by a woman doctor but similar charges of sexual exploitation, murder and corruption were leveled against the Deputy Chief Minister but the State Government is shielding him. The BJP legislators, firstly, staged a walkout from the central hall boycotting the Governor’s address. This triggered second round of disruptions in the central hall and nothing was audible to the members of both the Houses.
Feeling uncomfortable, Governor took a brief break and chatted with Speaker of the lower House and chairman of the legislative Council before abruptly ending his address. After the National Anthem, the Governor was escorted out by senior officials. The Chief Minister also proceeded towards his office amid chaos.
Speaking to the mediapersons, PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti accused the Omar Abdullah Government of sheltering the former Congress Minister. She questioned the delay caused in arresting the former Minister and posed uneasy questions putting the State police force in the dock as to how they could lose track of the Minister who remained under the constant gaze of the security arrangements. The BJP legislators also targeted the Deputy Chief Minister and demanded action against him as per the rule of law.
The Panthers party MlAs led by Chairman Harsh Dev Singh claimed that the Government has failed on all fronts and lacked accountability. CPI(M) MlA Mohd Yousaf Tarigami also demanded that justice should be done with the victims of the Pathribal encounter case and also expressed serious concerns over the failure of the State Government in tracking down a former Minister facing charges of sexual assault.