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Uttarakhand Assembly adjourned sine die

DEHRA DUN: The Uttarakhand Vidhan Sabha was adjourned sine die on the first day of its session on Wednesday with the Government tabling the report of a select committee that went into the controversial Uttarakhand Universities Bill, 2008, and completing the day’s business amid heavy din by Congress and Bahujan Samaj Party members.

The entire Opposition trooped into the well of the House at the very beginning shouting slogans demanding a CBI probe into alleged gang-rape of a Dalit girl in a Dehra Dun hotel as the police were unable to investigate the issue properly allegedly because of pressures of the ruling party. Two local BJP leaders had been arrested in the case but the names of three more accomplices are yet to be known.

The members also wanted to know how a bridge built at a cost of Rs.5 crore near Haldwani in Naini Tal district had collapsed within four years.

The Speaker, Harbans Kapoor, adjourned the House for half an hour at 11-15 a.m. as agitated Opposition members refused to go back to their seats. As the ruckus continued when the House re-assembled, the Government pushed through the day’s business and the House was adjourned sine die at 12-30 p.m.

Later talking to media persons Chief Minister B.C. Khanduri expressed anguish over the Opposition strategy of stalling the House by raising slogans. “This House is meant for meaningful debates that could lead to better governance and development activities and I sincerely hope our friends in the Opposition benches would cooperate and contribute positively in future,” he said.

The Leader of the Opposition, Harak Singh Rawat, accused the Government of trying to gag the Opposition.

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Uttarakhand Assembly adjourned sine die

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