BJP MLAs walk out over closure of institutions, disaster relief

Dharamshala: The BJP legislators walked out of the assembly twice on the issue of closure of institutions and central disaster relief to Himachal Pradesh on the last day of the winter session here on Saturday.
Led by leader of opposition Jai Ram Thakur, the BJP legislators staged the first walkout during the Question Hour when chief minister Sukhvinder Sukhu was explaining why various institutions were de-notified by the Congress govt after coming to power.

Accusing the state govt of a pick-and-choose policy in de-notifying the institutions, the BJP MLAs stood from their chairs and walked out of the House while raising slogans. Reacting to the BJP’s walkout, speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania said: “The BJP legislators were given ample time to raise their issues during the Question Hour but still they walked out. It was uncalled for.”
The BJP legislators returned to the House within five minutes.
Later during the post-lunch session, the BJP MLAs again walked out of the House while opposing the statement by Congress MLA Chander Shekhar, who moved a resolution on the Post-Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) under rule 130, claiming that the central govt did not release requisite disaster relief funds to Himachal after the monsoon disaster of 2023. The speaker, however, said the walkout would not be a part of the House record.
Both CM Sukhu and his deputy Mukesh Agnihotri termed BJP’s walkout as “highly unfortunate and condemnable”. Sukhu said the BJP did not care about the issues of the state.
‘Institutions de-notified’
Earlier, during the Question Hour, replying to a question asked by BJP MLA Randhir Sharma, CM Sukhu said 1,865 institutions had been de-notified, closed, or merged and 103 new institutions opened in the last two years.