Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha and senior Congressman Ghulam Nabi Azad claimed Arunachal Pradesh governor Jyoti Prasad Rajkhowa called a session of the state Assembly without the consent
Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha and senior Congressman Ghulam Nabi Azad claimed Arunachal Pradesh governor Jyoti Prasad Rajkhowa called a session of the state Assembly without the consent or recommendation of the Cabinet and chief minister, set the agenda, decided on the seating arrangement, set the priority of items to be taken up, including removal and its reporting to him.
This is “unprecedented” in Indian history as neither the President of India nor any governor has called a session of Parliament or Assembly without Cabinet approval, Mr Azad said. “No President or governor gave directions as to who will sit in the Chair, what item will be taken up, who will be removed,” Mr Azad said. The Opposition members charged the governor with “unconstitutional” conduct after the Gauhati high court put on hold all his decisions, including the move to advance the Winter Session of the Assembly by a month.
Deputy chairman P.J. Kurien tried to conduct listed business, calling members to make Zero Hour submissions, but the slogan-shouting drowned out what the members said. With members refusing to heed his pleas, he adjourned the House till 12 noon when Congress members trooped into the Well. When the House met again, TMC and SP members staged a walkout, while Congress members were again in the Well. Expressing solidarity, members from the AIADMK, CPI(M), and JD(U) were also on their feet shouting slogans “Recall the governor”.
The Constitution has been “shredded to pieces”, Mr Azad said. Law and order is a state subject and the state government requisitions paramilitary as well as Army forces when the situation so demands. But never is a requisition of paramilitary or Army done by a governor when an elected government is in office, he said.
The Arunachal Pradesh government was elected with a two-thirds majority and yet the governor called paramilitary forces and “regrettably the Centre accepted his request”, he said.
Environment minister Prakash Javadekar said the adjournment motion cannot be discussed if the matter is sub-judice or the motion is pending with the Chairman. Mr Azad asked why Parliament could not discuss it when every TV channel was discussing the issue. The high court, he said, has rejected the Governor’s call for an Assembly session and so the governor should be recalled.
K.C. Tyagi (JD-U) said smaller parties are most vulnerable to such misuse of the Constitution. “Have you ever heard of MLAs meeting in a dance bar,” he said. “How can you hold a meeting (of the Assembly) in a restaurant ”
Kurien said the subject can be taken up when the motion is discussed and called for Zero Hour mentions. As the din continued, the House was again adjourned for half an hour, and then till 2.30 pm.
Meanwhile, in the Lok Sabha, Congress members led by Sonia Gandhi staged a walkout. “Stop partiality,” agitated Congress members chanted as they left the House. The JD(U) and NCP also joined the walkout.
Mrs Gandhi was herself in the Well for a while along with an agitated Mr Kharge who pleaded with Speaker Sumitra Mahajan to allow him to have his say, claiming that the developments in Arunachal portended danger for democracy. The Speaker remained unmoved.
Congress members stormed the Well demanding the recall of the governor and chanting “Stop dictatorship” and “Dismiss the governor”. During Question Hour, when the Speaker disallowed notices for an adjournment motion moved by some Congress members on certain actions of the governor, Mr Kharge said a “new turn” has taken place following the verdict of the Gauhati high court.
The Speaker made it clear that no reference to the high court can be made in the House and that the Arunachal issue has already been raised. Parliamentary affairs minister M. Venkaiah Naidu also urged the Chair to delete the reference made to the high court. “You raise slogans every day. The government can’t take decisions and the House cannot run like this,” she observed.
Meanwhile, as the Rajya Sabha reconvened at 2.30 pm, vice-chairman P.J. Kurien adjourned it till Monday due to lack of quorum within 10 minutes of it assembling.
