India News | Haryana Dy CM Chautala Raises Questions on Conversion of Short-duration Discussions into Calling Attention

Chandigarh, Aug 25 (PTI) Haryana Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala on Friday raised questions in the Assembly over the conversion of a short-duration discussion notice into a Calling Attention motion by the deputy speaker "without approval".

As the House was to take up a discussion on the recent floods, Chautala claimed that the Chair wrongfully allowed the conversion of the short notice discussion into calling attention motion.

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"It has never been mentioned in the rules that a short-duration discussion can be converted into a Calling Attention motion... Under which provision has this been done, it should be checked," he told Deputy Speaker Ranbir Gangwa, who was in the Chair.

"My objection is that if a short-duration discussion is converted into Calling Attention, then it is a violation of rules and procedures. So far, a short-duration discussion notice has never been converted without the approval of the House, ministers or members," Chautala said.

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Responding to the charge, Gangwa reminded the JJP leader that there are precedents of this nature. "It is not for the first time such a thing is being done," the deputy speaker said, adding that such a convention was there in 2011 and 2012 too.

Congress leader and Leader of Opposition Bhupinder Singh Hooda also urged Gangwa to give his ruling on the issue.

The deputy speaker then allowed the Calling Attention motion to be taken up. As the discussion began, the deputy chief minister informed the House that the state government promptly took all necessary steps and precautions to prevent and reduce the impact of the recent floods.

He said 7,868 people were evacuated, 60 relief camps organised and 2,031 people shifted to these camps, adding that the disbursement of compensation will be taken up upon the completion of the ongoing verification process as per the norms and instruction of the Haryana government.

As per the E-kshatipurti portal, 1,35,541 farmers in 4,475 villages have informed that the total crop loss area is 6,61,644 acres, Chautala said. He added that 47 people died in the recent floods or excessive rains.

Congress MLAs, including Varun Chaudhary, and Independent MLA Balraj Kundu targeted the government for failing to take timely steps and advance preparations.

Chaudhary pointed out that people were facing problems in reporting their losses on the government portal, while some of his party legislators claimed that alleged illegal mining had also contributed to the floods.

Kundu, who claimed several villages in his Meham constituency were not included in the list of flood-hit villages, was later even warned by the deputy speaker over his repeated interruptions on other issues.

INLD leader Abhay Chautala, who even took potshots at his nephew and Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala, targeted the government for allegedly failing to take necessary and timely steps.

Power Minister and Dushyant's granduncle Ranjit Singh Chautala came to his defence, saying Abhay Chautala was on a 'padayatra' and did not know many things.

Abhay Chautala continued to target Dushyant, saying that he had recently visited Sanauli Khurd village in Panipat where a cow shelter has been affected by the recent excessive rains.

He said people over there told him that Dushyant Chautala recently visited the place and instead of showing concern, sought to put the blame on the gaushala authorities.

Dushyant Chautala countered Abhay Chautala, saying the affected animals had been relocated and sent to nearby cow shelters.

Abhay Chautala then wanted to put some point across when Dushyant Chautala was giving his reply but walked out when the speaker disallowed him from interrupting.

"A point of order is not a point of privilege," Speaker Gian Chand Gupta, who was in the Chair, told Abhay.

Meanwhile, Agriculture Minister J P Dalal mentioned that farmers can take up the crop insurance scheme on their own will and it was not binding, at which the Congress' Kiran Choudhary said this was not the case.

The issue also saw a brief exchange of words between Dalal and Kiran Choudhary.

(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)