Congress MLAs today objected to the proposal by the Gujarat government not to extend the ongoing session for two more days to accommodate discussions and voting on 12 bills admitted in the House.
During a joint meeting of legislators yesterday, it was proposed by the Gujarat government that instead of extending the session ending on March 31, two extra sittings should be added to sessions on March 26 and March 31. Thus, the session would begin from 8:30 am on these days instead of 12 pm.
However, this suggestion did not go down well with the Congress, who termed it mismanagement by the Gujarat government and called for discussion on this matter today.
During today's discussion, Congress chief whip Balwantsinh Rajput put forward the views of Congress legislators and requested the state government to add two days instead of adding sittings on existing days. He proposed that the ongoing session should be extended till April 2.
Echoing Rajput's views, senior Congress MLA Shailesh Parmar said that MLAs may have to miss the India-Australia semi-final match if the session on March 26 is a full-day affair.
However, Gujarat state parliamentary affairs minister Pradeepsinh Jadeja rejected Congress's demand and stated that it is not advisable to extend the session, since April 2 is a public holiday. He also assured that enough time would be given to discuss new bills to be taken up during the two sessions.
Unhappy with his reply, Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Shankersinh Vaghela said that the Gujarat government should have known that these many bills are to be tabled in the session.
"This shows that you have not done your homework. If you knew that these many bills were going to be tabled, then you should have planned accordingly in advance instead of making two full day sessions in the last minute. I urge you to at least extend the session till April 1" Vaghela said.
To pacify him and Congress MLAs, Gujarat state health minister Nitin Patel assured that the government would take due care in the future. After the senior ministers assurance in the House, Congress MLAs agreed on the proposal to add two sittings.
