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Himachal House witnesses an unusual protest

Staff Correspondent

With mouths covered, Opposition BJP MLAs squat in the well of the House

SHIMLA: In an unusual form of protest in Himachal Assembly, the entire Opposition on Thursday staged a silent protest by squatting in the well of the House with their mouths covered with cloth. In continuation of their demand for discussion on corruption and law and order situation in the State, the BJP legislators moved to the well of the House without disturbing the proceedings.

The leader of BJP group, Prem Kumar Dhumal, requested the Speaker to either extend the session by one day or allow discussion on the issue. But his appeal was turned down and a number of reports were tabled and some bills were passed with amendments as usual. The Opposition sat through the proceedings on the floor and got up only when the Assembly was adjourned sine die by the Speaker.

Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh condemned the Opposition action and called it a ridiculous situation causing embarrassment to everyone.

Addressing a press conference outside the House after the adjournment, Mr. Dhumal condemned the tyrannical attitude of the government which was not ready for a discussion on the burning issues of corruption and law and order. He said the State Government which was neck deep in corruption had throttled the voice of the Opposition even inside the Vidhan Sabha which was the biggest Panchayat of people in the State. "Even the slogans we had raised inside the House had been expunged", he alleged.

Mr. Dhumal criticised the way in which a former Minister Asha Kumari and Virbhadra Singh and other Congress members discussed the resolution on providing land for the construction of houses to the landless families. He said Asha Kumari, who is facing a trial in the Court on charges of land-grabbing, and Virbhadra Singh who had himself surrendered 80 bighas of land after the then BJP government started closing its net on the big fish, are today worried about the landless.

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Himachal House witnesses an unusual protest

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