Shimla (Himachal Pradesh) [India], September 1 : The Himachal Pradesh Assembly witnessed uproar on Monday as opposition BJP MLAs accused the Congress government of suppressing questions in the House related to alleged "cash for vote" irregularities during the recent Dehra by-election.
Addressing a joint press conference in Shimla, BJP legislators Sudhir Sharma (Dharamshala), Trilok Jamwal (Bilaspur), and Ashish Sharma alleged that the government was "hiding facts" and removing listed questions from the Assembly's Question Hour to protect the Chief Minister's image.
BJP MLA Sudhir Sharma claimed that during the Dehra bypoll, "under the model code of conduct, Es Rs 34 lakh from Kangra Cooperative Bank was given to 68 Mahila Mandals, and Rs 4,500 was credited to the accounts of 1,000 women -- even to those who had not applied. This is nothing short of cash for votes."
He further alleged, "When we raised this through a listed question in the House, the question was removed from the Question Hour despite being on the list. We had even sought details through RTI, which we received, but inside the Assembly, the question was deleted. Another question on Himachal Tourism Corporation hotels, also submitted by the Opposition, was similarly removed."
Sharma said that former MLA Hoshiar Singh had filed complaints with both the Election Commission and the Himachal Pradesh High Court on the matter.
Bilaspur BJP MLA Trilok Jamwal said his question related to the state government's excise policy was also removed from the day's agenda. "Till yesterday, my question was listed in the Assembly's work schedule, but today during Question Hour, it was deleted. This is a violation of Rule 53. Once listed, questions cannot be removed without the member's consent. The Speaker has assured me my question will be relisted," Jamwal said.
Ashish Sharma, BJP MLA from Hamirpur, also backed the allegations, stating that the pattern of removing Opposition questions from the Assembly's schedule was "undemocratic" and demanded transparency in the House's functioning.