Avtar Bhat
JAMMU, Feb 1: Making a scathing attack on coalition Government, former Chief Minister and working president, National Conference (NC), Omar Abdullah held it responsible for what happened in the State Assembly today.
Talking to reporters outside the Assembly soon after the adjournment of the House sine-die by Speaker Kavinder Gupta, Omar said that the Government had already decided to adjourn the House sine -die. “It was already written on the table and the decision was taken in advance by the Government to adjourn the House as they were caught in an embarrassing situation”, he added.
This is unparallel in Parliamentary democracy as the Speaker had to consult the Parliamentary Affairs Minister and the Chief Minster about the adjournment of the House sine -die, he said, adding the Chief Minister and Government tried to hide themselves behind the Speaker’s chair as they have no courage to face the Opposition in the Assembly.
Omar said, he wanted that CM should come in the House and clarify the statement as “we wanted to discuss the issue”. Lambasting the Government, he said it should accept its failure and weaknesses.
Former Chief Minister said the tenure of the House is decided by the Government and “we had come to participate in the full session but adjourning the House before schedule depicts Government’s weakness and failures”.
“The way the Government passed the Appropriation Bill yesterday and the GST Bill today amid uproar reveals the frustration of the coalition and it seems they are totally frightened. “This Government was totally frightened due to the situation of last two days,” Omar added.
Alleging that the adjournment of the House sine -die was decision of the Government and it can’t blame the opposition, Omar said “we had no role in it”. He also expressed his dismay over the use of abusive language by some Ministers against the opposition members.
In response to a question that the coalition is approaching the Election Commission for postponement of Lok Sabha elections of two seats in Kashmir, Omar said his party has said as early elections for two Parliamentary seats in Valley will be good. “But the Government which has no courage to face 25 to 30 opposition MLAs in the House can’t face lakhs of people in elections”, he added.
“As they hide themselves behind the Speaker and adjourned the House, likewise to defer the polls they are trying to hide behind the Election Commission”, he said.
In response to another question whether Congress and NC framed a joint strategy to take on Government on Article 370 issue, Omar said “we have not chalked out any strategy in this regard. However, the two parties will discuss the issue in their own foras and if need be to come together on this issue our leaders will take a decision”.
When asked will the opposition take the issue to public, the NC leader said “no they will not take the issue to people as they (people) are already confronted with various problems”. However the issue will definitely be discussed in various public foras, he added.
Later talking to media persons, Deputy Chief Minister, Dr Nirmal Singh termed the hooliganism by Opposition members in the House totally unfortunate. He said Assembly is the only Forum where the issues can be discussed in a democratic way but the members of opposition resorted to ransacking of the House which is undemocratic.
Lambasting the Opposition, he said the same kind of attitude of the Opposition parties is responsible for the unrest in the State. Giving a clean chit to Speaker Kavinder Gupta, he said the Speaker did a very good job.
“The way opposition resorted to ransacking of the tables and chairs is very sad. The employees were injured which is very unfortunate”, he added.
Responding to a question, the Deputy Chief Minister said the opposition was not angry but they had no issue to raise. “The only issues which they had was that how to create Kashmir versus Jammu issue, Kashmiri Pandits issue, Sainik Colony issue and Hurriyat support issue”.
Dr Singh made it clear that PDP-BJP alliance is based on agenda of good governance and for last two years the opposition have only one issue how to polarize the situation in the State.
“If they had any issue they could talk to us as Assembly is the appropriate forum to discuss such issue in a democracy.
Meanwhile CPI (M) leader and MLA Kulgam Mohammed Yousuf Tarigami said the Speaker’s decision to adjourn the State Legislative Assembly sine-die ahead of schedule can prove harmful for maintaining the sanctity of the Legislature and democracy in the State.
In a statement issued here, Tarigami said that without following the procedure , the laid down norms and without even exploring the possibility of overcoming the crisis created by the controversial statement of the Chief Minister regarding Article 370 on Monday, the Speaker ordered adjournment of the Assembly sine -die which amounted to disrespect of the House itself.
Another MLA, Hakim Mohammed Yasin, in a statement, said that PDP’s claims about “Agenda of Alliance” has been exposed by the BJP in Assembly.
Blaming PDP-BJP Government of creating Constitutional crisis in the State, Hakim Yasin who is also president of Peoples Democratic Front (PDF) said that PDP’s claims about the agenda of alliance have been exposed by the BJP in the Assembly.
The Opposition MLAs also held dharna and raised slogans against the Government for the second consecutive day outside Assembly today.
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