Opposition parties demand govt withdraw controversial bills

The opposition today demanded in the Assembly that the government withdraw the proposed land acquisition amendment bill, 2013, Jharkhand Religious Independence Bill, 2017 and other controversial bills to run the House smoothly.
As soon as the House convened after an hour's adjournment in the morning session following a ruckus over these bills, the Leader of Opposition, Hemant Soren, demanded that the government withdraw these bills along with the controversial CNT/SPT amendment acts, while initiating a discussion in the Assembly on the issue of smooth running of the House.
Soren, working president of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), alleged that the state government has 'hijacked' the House and it is trying to run the show according to its 'whims and fancies'.

Giving the example of passage of the controversial CNT/SPT acts in November last year, Soren said that because of the alleged unilateral approach of the state government, the opposition had no option but to protest inside and outside the House on the issue, and ultimately as per his own assessment Governor Droupadi Murmu had returned both the bills because of the statewide protest against them.
Marxist Coordination Committee MLA Arup Chatterjee, Bhanu Pratap Sahi of Nau Jawan Sangharh Morcha and Gita Koda of the Jai Bharat Samanta Party urged to allow the smooth functioning of the House.
Chatterjee and Sahi made special mention of the issues of common people and said that they could not be raised for about a year due to obstruction of the question hour. They said at least it should be unanimously decided today that the question hour, zero hour and point of information should never be disrupted.

Urban Development Minister C P Singh, who was a former Speaker, stressed that in a Parliamentary democracy the Treasury benches and the opposition both have equal rights as all the MLAs represent the people and they are elected by the people of their respective constituencies.

Singh said that the frequent disruption of the House was not proper. He alleged that on several issues the opposition created din even without having any understanding the issue itself.
The chief whip of the BJP in the House, Radhakrishna Kishore alleged that because of the stubborn approach of the opposition the assembly could not function properly for the last three sessions.

Kishore said that according to the rules of the House the issues, which were not in the agenda of the day cannot be raised to disrupt even the question hour.
He said that the government has proposed to bring the Land Acquisition Amendment Act 2013 and Religious Independence Bill, 2017 in the interest of the people of the state and the opposition should let the House discuss and debate the bills threadbare, so that appropriate amendments and changes could be made to the proposed bills.
The Treasury benches are prepared for debate each and every issue on the floor of the House. And the opposition should not shy away from debate, he said.

Later, speaking to reporters, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Saryu Roy said that the leader of the opposition, Hemant Soren, should withdraw the comment of 'hijack' of the House as the allegation pertains to the Speaker's ability to run the House impartially and smoothly.
Roy said that the comments of the leader of the opposition are against the respect of the House.