HP Assembly: Oppn gives no-confidence notice against BJP govt, debate on Thursday

(Eds: Adds details ) Shimla, Aug 10 (PTI) The Himachal Pradesh Assembly will discuss on Thursday a notice on no confidence brought by the Congress and the CPM against Jai Ram Thakur-led state government. The notice was given by 22 Congress MLAs and the lone CPM legislator, said Speaker Vipin Parmar, who allowed the notice. He said a debate will start in the state Assembly at 11 am on Thursday and Chief Minister Thakur will give his reply at 3 pm. The speaker told the House that the notice was given at 9.50 am under Rule 278 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly. ''The notice stated the House expresses no confidence in the council of ministers as the government fails on all fronts,'' the speaker added. As the House reassembled at 3.45 pm after a 15-minute adjournment, a head count was undertaken in the Assembly to know the exact numbers of MLAs favouring the no-confidence notice. Congress legislators, including Leader of Opposition Mukesh Agnihotri, Harshwardhan Chauhan, Asha Kumari and Ram Lal said the time allotted for the debate from 11 am to 3 pm is very less. They demanded that more hours be allocated for the debate. Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Suresh Bhardwaj said they are ready to face the debate. A strong government is in place in the state and it is ready to face a no-confidence motion, they added. On the contrary, Mukesh Agnihotri said the BJP government failed on all fronts. The BJP has 43 MLAs in the 68-member House while the Congress has 22. There are two Independents and one CPI(M) MLA. Earlier in the day, speaker had adjourned the House at 3.30 pm for 15 minutes amidst an uproar by Congress members, who demanded an immediate debate on their notice. The Congress legislators raised slogans over issues of unemployment and price rise. The ruling BJP MLAs also replied with counter slogans while the Speaker tried to pacify the Congress MLAs.

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