Srinagar, Sep 21: Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Choudhary on Monday accused the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of creating a ruckus on the first day of autumn session in the J&K Legislative Assembly to disrupt proceedings and “hide its failures”, particularly in connection with the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM).
Racting to the uproar created by BJP legislators, Choudhary described the protest as “nautanki” and said the opposition should have used Question Hour, Zero Hour, and resolutions to raise issues concerning the people instead of displaying placards and creating a disturbance.
“The BJP did a drama today. They did not want the Assembly to run smoothly,” Choudhary told reporters outside the Assembly.
He said the BJP raised issues of regularisation of daily wagers, electricity, water, schools, roads, and healthcare through placards, but failed to utilise the opportunity to raise these issues through questions on the floor of the House. Choudhary said several questions listed for Question Hour were not taken up amid the disruption, including questions concerning roads in the Chenab Valley, which “required answers and accountability from the government.”
“The opposition’s job is to identify the mistakes of the government and bring them before it. Ask questions, bring resolutions and raise issues during Zero Hour,” he said.
The Deputy Chief Minister alleged that the BJP deliberately disrupted the proceedings as a committee report on the Jal Jeevan Mission was presented before the House.
“BJP knew that the sub-committee of Jal Jeevan Mission will submit its report today. They did not talk about that. They deliberately created a ruckus to hide the report and their misdeeds and wrong things done during their tenure,” he alleged. Choudhary also accused the BJP of attempting to remain in the news through protests inside the House, saying the party could raise allegations of irregularities and demand a CBI inquiry through proper parliamentary procedures.
“If you want a CBI inquiry, who stopped you from speaking in the Assembly? You should have raised it there. Why were you creating a scene and shouting slogans?” he said.
Taking on the BJP over the issue of daily wagers, Choudhary said the government was committed to their regularisation saying that the process had to be accompanied by a mechanism for payment of salaries.
“We want to regularise the daily wagers and we will do it. But along with regularisation, they should also get a salary. Both these things have to be ensured,” he said.
Choudhary also questioned BJP leader and Leader of Opposition Sunil Sharma over the issue while recalling his tenure as Sports Minister and said why the concerns of workers in the department were not resolved when the BJP-PDP government was in power.
“If it is a matter of daily wagers, ask Sunil Sharma. You were the Sports Minister. Why were the daily wagers not regularised then?” he said. Referring to the BJP-PDP government’s tenure, Choudhary said the issue of daily wagers had existed for years and questioned why successive budgets during that period had not provided a solution.
He said the government had limited time during the 10-day Assembly session and urged BJP members to use the remaining days for raising issues of public importance.
“This is a very small session. Utilize it correctly. Use it for the people of Jammu and Kashmir and do not waste the time of the Assembly,” Choudhary said. He said that BJP was creating noisy scenes in the House only to get media attention. “They know media persons will make their reels viral which will create an impression that opposition cornered the government in Assembly. Stop giving them coverage just one day, it will end their drama,” Choudhary said.
He also claimed that the Omar Abdullah-led government had undertaken more development work in the last two-and-a-half years than was done during the preceding 12 years of BJP-PDP rule. “I urge the opposition to raise its issues through legislative mechanisms rather than disrupting proceedings,” Choudhary said.
