English Press Note Dt. 04/12/2009
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OFFICE OF THE LEADER OF OPPOSITION
Gujarat Vidhansabha, Gandhinagar.
Press Note
Press Note: Dt. 04.12.2009
- The statement of the Speaker that there were instances in the past when question hour was not on the agenda of a session is a lie as per the records of the Gujarat Assembly
- Question hour with starred questions has always been part of a regular session of the Assembly meeting after six months.
- Speaker has quoted instances of special sessions to mislead people on the issue through media
Speaker of Gujarat Assembly made a false and misleading statement about question hour in the regular session of the Assembly when he claimed that there were instances in the past when the question hour was not kept. Starred questions by MLAs are raised during the question hour.
The Speaker made this statement when Congress Legislature Party opposed his decision not to have question hour in the coming session of the Assembly. This session is being held to fulfill the statutory requirement that Assembly should meet once in six months.
In a statement, Leader of Opposition in the State Assembly, Shaktisinh Gohil, said that it was very sad and unfortunate that the Speaker quoted different instances to support his stand. The instances were misquoted with a view to mislead people on the issue related to the constitutional right of MLAs.
Pointing out that none of these instances were of regular session of the Assembly, he said that in 1985, 1990, 1995 and 1998 Assembly Session was convened after Assembly elections. They were not regular sessions and there was not enough time for members to ask question because they were just elected. Starred questions need time to be replied by the government.
On 18th January, 1990, the Session was called as the new Chief Minister was elected so it was on urgent basis while another session was held in July 1992 for the vote of Confidence by Chimanbhai Patel after the breakdown of understanding between BJP and Janata Dal and Chimanbhai had joined hands with Congress.
This, he said, clearly establishes that these were special sessions for special occasions and not regular sessions meeting after six months. Question hour has always been part of regular session and this tradition has been broken only by the present Chief Minister.
Government and the Speaker should review the decision not to hold question hour and see that the high esteem and dignity of the Gujarat Assembly is not eroded by such undemocratic actions, he demanded.