India News | Monsoon Session of Himachal Assembly -- Last One Before State Polls -- Concludes

Shimla, Aug 13 (PTI) The four-day monsoon session of the Himachal Pradesh Assembly -- the last one before the assembly polls scheduled for later this year -- concluded on Saturday.

The Assembly was adjourned sine die at 7.32 pm.

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The four-day session was marred by prolonged protests and frequent disruptions.

A No Confidence Motion moved by the opposition Congress and CPI(M) was defeated by a voice vote. The opposition staged a walkout right before Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur's reply to the debate on the motion on Thursday.

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The Assembly approved a bill on Saturday to make the state's 2019 anti-conversion law more stringent by forbidding a convert from availing "any benefit" of parent religion or caste and enhancing the maximum punishment to 10 years imprisonment.

Passed by a voice vote, the Himachal Pradesh Freedom of Religion (Amendment) Bill, 2022, also bans "mass conversion" - described as two or more people converting at the same time - through force or allurement.

Addressing the House, Chief Minister Thakur said his government would be remembered for not resorting to political vendetta. "We decided in the first cabinet meeting that no decision of the previous government would be withdrawn," he said.

Leader of Opposition Mukesh Agnihotri said successive governments in the hill state have played a vital role for its overall development.

Both the chief minister and the leader of opposition expressed hope that the next government would be formed by their respective party.

The last and 15th session of the 13th Himachal Pradesh Assembly began on August 10. It had four sittings.

In his concluding remarks, Speaker Virendra Parmar said a total of 140 sittings were held in the 13th Assembly.

A total of 10,513 questions were asked during the Question Hour in the 13th Assembly. Of them, 7,414 were starred and 3,099 were unstarred, he added.

A total of 70 bills were tabled in the House in the 13th Assembly. Of them, 69 were passed, he added.

(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)