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| Opposition forgets tradition; politics over power projects dominates Upper House | | 5 members including Chairman retire amid chaos | | Syed Junaid Hashmi
Early Times Report
jammu, Mar 27: On a day when members of the Upper House were supposed to give a warm send-off to Chairman Amrit Malhotra and four other members who retired today, NC and Congress members of the Legislative Council forced adjournment of the House.
They did not allow the resumption of the House despite knowing well that Chairman of the House Amrit Malhotra was conducting the proceedings of the House for the last time after having served it with integrity and honesty for last six years. Malhotra was nominated to the Council on March 28, 2009 and subsequently, elevated as Chairman of the Upper House on October 16, 2011. He demitted the office of Chairman after having served it for 3 years and 5 months.
NC-Congress MLCs who were peeved over PDP's purported u-turn over the issue of return of hydroelectric projects were more interested in forcing adjournment of the House than reminding themselves about the tradition of giving warm send-off to the retiring members. Led by ex-Home Minister and newly elected NC MLC Sajjad Kitchloo and Congress MLC Ravinder Sharma, National Conference (NC) MLCs alongwith their Congress colleagues created uproarious scenes in the House, forcing adjournment of the House.
Such was the mood of the NC-Congress MLCs that even the two virtually silent members Dharamveer Singh Oberoi and Rani Gargi Billowria too stormed into the well of the House, staging a sit-in against what they termed as deception of the people of Jammu and Kashmir by the PDP-BJP government. They were saying that the two parties have promised return of the power projects when the fact is that in reply to the question of their own MP, Union Power Ministry has outrightly refused to return power projects to the state.
They were agitated and seemingly trying to put across a point that they were custodians of the people of Jammu and Kashmir, hence worried about they being misled by PDP-BJP government. Hence, they forgot the tradition of giving warm send-off to the retiring members especially the Chairman of the Legislative Council. Even Malhotra seemed waiting for the members to allow him to resume the business of the House but none heard him.
NC-Congress MLCs were on their feet, raising slogans and protesting against the PDP-BJP government. They trooped into the Well of the House and sat on Dharna raising slogans. Finding the situation difficult to control, retiring Chairman Amrit Malhotra adjourned the House. As the House re-assembled again, the opposition members did not allow the House to run smoothly and resorted to protests again and sat in the Well of the House. House was adjourned again for some time as Congress MLC Ravinder Sharma, who too retired today sought reply from the government on the issue of transfer of power projects.
The members were in no mood to relent. A peeved and virtually disgusted retiring Chairman Amrit Malhotra adjourned the House till March 30. But this was not before Minister of State for Finance Pawan Gupta laid on the Table of the House copies of Audit Report on State Finance for the year ended 31 March, 2014, Audit Report (Report No.3 of the Year 2014) on Revenue Sector and Public Sector Undertakings (Social, General and Economic Sectors) for the year ended 31st March 2014, Audit Report (Report No.4 of the year 2014) on Social, General and Economic (Non-PSUs) Sectors for the year ended March 2014, Finance Accounts (Volume 1), Finance Accounts (Volume II), for the year 2013-14 and Appropriation Accounts for the year 2013-14.
Apart from the Chairman, the members who retired today included Ravinder Sharma and Bashir Ahmad Magray of Congress, Sheikh Ghulam Qadir Pardesi and Ajay Sadhotra of National Conference. Apart from these five nominated members, four others who have already demitted the House include Subhash Gupta, Sheikh Ghulam Rasool and Javed Rana. PDP-BJP are yet to arrive at a consensus on nominating eight new members to the council. Later, the Chairman Amrit Malhotra was given warm send-off by the staff of the Council Secretariat alongwith several minsters.
Speaking on the occasion, Malhotra expressed gratitude to the MLCs and staff of the Council for rendering him cooperation during his tenure to run the House smoothly and maintaining the parliamentary system with high dignity.
He referred to his rich experience as Chairman of the Council and said he will always remember whatever he has contributed for this august House. He advised the members to always maintain the high standards of democracy while performing their professional duties rising above the political affiliations. It is duty of every member to safeguard the sanctity of the house while highlighting the issues of the masses in right perspective, said Malhotra.
Speaking on the occasion, Leader of the House and Minister for Education, Naeem Akthar highlighted the contribution of Malhotra in the Upper House and described him as a multi-dimensional personality who always took along the entire House while deciding the important issues. His fairness, gentleness and style of carrying out the professional obligations are an inspiration for all of us, said Naeem. The proceedings were conducted by Zakir Khan.
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