Haryana Speaker seeks reply from Hooda on ‘parallel session’​

Chandigarh, April 28 Taking serious note of the gathering of lawmakers belonging to the Congress in the Assembly premises under the pretext of holding a ‘parallel session’, Haryana Assembly Speaker Harvinder Kalyan on Tuesday wrote a letter to Leader of Opposition Bhupinder Hooda, seeking clarification.

The Assembly secretariat also sought a reply from the Chief Secretary on the issue.

The Speaker stated that this “act not only appears to be contrary to parliamentary traditions but also casts a shadow of doubt upon the dignity of the Legislative Assembly and its established procedures and rules”.

He asked the Leader of the Opposition to specify under which rules or parliamentary practices he undertook such an unwarranted activity.

The letter, written on behalf of the Speaker, also inquired about the constitutional or procedural grounds on which he declared the special session of the Legislative Assembly -- held on April 27 -- and its proceedings to be unconstitutional.

Furthermore, a detailed response was sought regarding the concrete grounds for labelling the government resolution moved in the House in support of the ‘Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam’ (Women’s Reservation Bill) as ‘unconstitutional’.

The Speaker emphasised that the Assembly's proceedings were conducted in strict conformity with the Constitution, the rules of procedure, and established parliamentary traditions; any parallel or misleading activity could undermine the dignity and prestige of democratic institutions and their members.

He expected that the Leader of the Opposition would provide a prompt and clear response to this matter, thereby clarifying the situation and ensuring that the dignity of democratic norms and parliamentary traditions remained unviolated.

Congress lawmakers on Monday refused to participate in the special session of the Vidhan Sabha, saying the Assembly lacked the power to legislate on delimitation and women’s reservation.

The Congress boycotted the session convened by the Nayab Singh Saini-led government and organised a parallel session outside the House here, demanding that the Women’s Reservation Bill, passed in 2023, should be implemented immediately.

The party unanimously reached this decision at a legislative party meeting, presided over by former Chief Minister and Leader of the Opposition Hooda.

The MLAs asserted that the Bharatiya Janata Party government was making a mockery of constitutional institutions.

They argued that the issue of women’s reservation fell under the jurisdiction of the Central government, not the state government.

They said that the state government's convening of this session is unconstitutional.

--IANS

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