Shimla, Apr 5 (PTI) The BJP on Wednesday walked out of the Himachal Pradesh Assembly protesting the state government's move to reduce wards of the Shimla Municipal Corporation (SMC).

The state assembly passed a Bill in this regard on Tuesday. The Bill was passed in the absence of the BJP members who had walked out on the issue of removal of outsourced employees on Tuesday.

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On Wednesday, immediately after the Question Hour, BJP's Randhir Sharma raised the issue of reduction in wards of SMC from 41 to 34 and asked why the government was promulgating ordinances, just weeks before the start of Vidhan Sabha session.

The elections for 34 wards of SMC were announced a day before the Bill was passed which is wrong and the previous government had increased the number of wards as per rules, Sharma said and accused the government of usurping the powers of State Election Commission.

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He also criticized the government for changing the norms for reservation of wards for Scheduled Castes.

Accusing the government of tinkering with electoral rolls to win the elections, Leader of the Opposition Jai Ram Thakur said 11,000 votes have been added overnight.

The government has assumed the functions of State Election Commission, eroding its autonomy and changed the rules thrice on March 15, March 25 and March 30 to win elections and some wards with minimum number of women voters have been reserved for women, he alleged.

Refuting the allegations, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Harshwardhan Chauhan accused the opposition of not being serious and said that if the BJP was so concerned, it should not have left the House on Tuesday and participated in the debate.

Bringing a Bill or an ordinance is within the rights of the government and opposition cannot interfere in it, he added.

Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri asked Thakur that why his government did not hold the (civic body) elections on time and claimed that apprehending defeat, the BJP is creating hurdles even now.

Accusing the BJP of acting against the interests of the state, he said that the people will never forgive the party and added that the BJP had also opposed the water cess, which will accrue annual income of Rs 4,000 crore to the state.

Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said that the government has amended the Municipal Corporation Act and reduced the number of wards of SMC within the legal parameters.

The SMC elections had to be conducted before the assembly polls but the BJP deliberately delayed it, Sukhu said, adding that wards for women have been reserved afresh.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)