The stalemate between the treasury and the opposition benches in the Himachal Pradesh legislative assembly ended on Tuesday as the speaker accepted the latter's demand to hold a discussion on corruption.
As the house assembled in the morning, Bharatiya Janata Party member Ravinder Ravi demanded a discussion under Rule 67 on the registration of a corruption case against the chief minister. Speaker B.B.L. Butail had turned down the demand on Monday, the first day of the session.
"I have sought a reply from the state government and will give ruling only after getting the reply," Butail said.
"Why is the government running away from discussion," asked Suresh Bhardwaj, another BJP member.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Mukesh Agnihotri said the discussion was not possible under Rule 67. He said the government is ready to discuss the issue but under some other rule.
This agitated BJP members and they started raising slogans.
Former minister and BJP member Rajeev Bindal said the "state government is behaving like a dictator by not allowing discussion on the issue of corruption".
The session, which opened on Monday, ends on Friday.
Amidst protests and slogan shouting by both the sides, the speaker adjourned the house for 10 minutes.
As the house re-assembled, the speaker made the announcement to allow discussion on Friday, the last day of the house session.
Later, Leader of Opposition Prem Kumar Dhumal told reporters that the issue on which notice has been given by Ravinder Ravi would be the topic of discussion in the house on Friday.
He said the allegations against Virbhadra Singh were serious and needed a discussion in the house.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on November 20 conducted searches at several places in three states, including Delhi, in connection with the money laundering probe against Virbhadra Singh.
The ED registered a money-laundering case against him earlier on November 15.
The chief minister was booked under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act after the agency took cognizance of a criminal case registered against him by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in September.
The ED investigation aims to find out how Virbhadra Singh and his family allegedly amassed wealth to the tune of Rs.6.1 crore between 2009 and 2011, which was disproportionate to his known sources of income, while serving as the union steel minister.
