Gairsain: No one was prepared to endure the harsh conditions of Bharadisain’s mountainous terrain and frigid weather for an extended period. Thus, as usual, a hastily arranged script was devised to conclude the session promptly. The characters in this screenplay were on opposite ends of the spectrum. Protests, outrage, chaos, and prompt approval of departmental bills and budgets without discussion were the key elements of this script. To bid farewell to Bharadisain, ministers, officers, and MLAs were permitted to sit in the assembly hall until 10 pm in the bitter cold.
The budget session commenced in the Bharadisain Assembly on March 13th with the Governor’s speech. The opposition created such a commotion that the Governor had to plead with folded hands to listen to the last few lines of his address. The opposition shouted slogans of “Governor Go Back” at him. The ruling party had no better issue to target. Therefore, rather than discussing the budget speech, everyone focused on condemning the Congress House’s behavior. The Congress went all out and suspended 15 MLAs.
The MLAs would have had an opportunity to speak under the guise of discussion, but the ruckus caused by the Congress MLAs over the suspension of MLA Adesh Chauhan presented yet another unfortunate example of eroding the House’s decorum. As tempers subsided, the issue became a cause for debate on other topics. After a marathon discussion on the budget, when the Leader of the House Pushkar Singh Dhami shared his viewpoint, the Leader of the Opposition Yashpal Arya became agitated. However, his enthusiasm was dampened by the protest against the ruling party’s MLAs. The angry opposition MLAs staged a walkout, and the government easily passed the budget without discussion.
The budget session lasted for 21 hours and 36 minutes over four days. The Assembly Speaker, Ritu Khanduri Bhushan, expressed her gratitude to the opposition and all party members for their cooperation. It is said that both parties peacefully and seriously discussed several subjects of state and public interest in the House. During the four-day session, the Legislative Assembly received 603 questions. Of these, one out of eight accepted short answer questions was answered, 46 were answered in 180 starred questions, and 197 were answered in 380 unstarred questions. A total of 29 questions were rejected.
