The winter session of the Madhya Pradesh Assembly will begin here from Monday and end on December 24, with the Question Hour of December 22 being reserved for queries from first-time MLAs.
The opposition Congress is all set to raise OBC reservation in panchayat elections as well as the shortage of fertilisers in the state and the hospital fire tragedy among other issues. After an all-party meeting on Sunday, Assembly Speaker Girish Gautam said the Question Hour on December 22 will be reserved for questions submitted by MLAs, including women, elected for the first time.
The Leader of Opposition Kamal Nath and Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Narottam Mishra were also present in the meeting. The Assembly is a platform to raise public issues and the ruling party and opposition should cooperate in running the proceedings during all the sittings, Gautam said, adding that the House should be convened once in three months and a total of 90 sittings should be held in a year.
Earlier, Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Narottam Mishra said the government will present several bills, including Madhya Pradesh Damage to Public and Private Property Recovery Bill 2021, in the Assembly during this session. The bill will ensure the recovery of losses from the people and organisations that damage government or private property during protests, and it puts the onus on the accused to prove their innocence in such acts.
When asked about the issues to be raised by the opposition, Congress MLA PC Sharma told PTI his party will raise the issue of OBC reservation in the panchayat elections. “Had the BJP government decided to hold the panchayat elections on the basis of delimitation carried out in 2019 by the then Congress government, the process would have been completed smoothly. But they cancelled the delimitation by bringing an ordinance resulting in SC directives on OBC reservation,” Sharma said.
He said the Congress will raise fertiliser and electricity woes being faced by farmers, unemployment as well as the deaths of children in the Hamidia Hospital fire incident. The Congress will also raise the issue of money spent on holding programmes recently in the tribal areas instead of carrying out real work for their welfare, Sharma said.
Mishra, meanwhile, held the Congress responsible for the apex court directives to re-notify OBC reserved seats in Madhya Pradesh and said the order came on the petition of opposition leaders. The five-day winter session is the tenth session of the current Assembly, an official said.
-With PTI Inputs
