Budget will be pro-people, says NC; BJP to highlight Govt’s failures
Bivek Mathur
JAMMU, Mar 3: The Congress Party today praised the Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha’s address to the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly (JKLA) for his promise to restore the region’s Statehood.
Follow the Daily Excelsior channel on WhatsApp
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), however, slammed the address, claiming there was no mention of important issues, including the restoration of Article 370, 35A, termination of employees, and other significant matters for which the National Conference was voted into power.
Click here to watch video
Hailing the LG’s address, the ruling National Conference claimed the upcoming budget, to be presented on March 7, would be “pro-people” and “pro-poor.”
The BJP said it would leave no stone unturned during the Budget Session to corner the ruling Government for its alleged failures to deliver on several commitments made to the public.
AICC general secretary and Congress Legislature Party leader GA Mir said the best aspect of the LG’s address was his assurance on the restoration of Statehood.
“The second best thing in the LG’s address was that he (LG) himself accepted that the current budget is the people’s budget and the elected representatives’ or elected Government’s budget,” Mir said.
Mir claimed that there had been no democracy in Jammu and Kashmir for the past seven years as the budgets were passed by bureaucrats in closed-door sessions with a stamp of the Parliament.
“But now, important issues of the public would be debated by their elected leaders for their immediate resolution. This is a great development,” Mir said.
The former JKPCC president, Mir, claimed that the current budget would address the issues of the people, and the commitments made in it would be fulfilled gradually.
JKPCC president and Congress MLA Tariq Hameed Karra reiterated the demand for J-K to regain Statehood, while NC MLA Mubarak Gul hoped that this Assembly would see the raising of local issues by the legislators as the Budget Session has started after a long time.
“We are very positive about the session. It will generate healthy discussion and find solutions to people’s demands,” he said.
People’s Democratic Party (PDP) leader Waheed ur Rehman Parra said his party had hoped that the elected Government would include political issues like the Article 370 resolution in the LG’s address, but that did not happen.
Parra also claimed that he was disappointed with the deliberate deletion of Martyrs Day from the calendar by the Government.
“Land, liquor ban, and daily wagers’ issues also didn’t feature in the LG’s address. This is quite embarrassing for the ruling National Conference,” Parra said.
He, however, said that his party leaders would leave no stone unturned to discuss these issues through their questions, private member bills, and resolutions in the Assembly in the days to come.
CPI (M) leader Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami also hoped that important public issues such as unemployment, justice for those in jails either within or outside the UT, a review of their cases, electricity, and farmers’ issues would be discussed thoroughly in the upcoming budget session.
Praising the LG’s address, NC leader Sajjad Shaheen said that the budget is a document that signifies a Government’s policy vision for the next five years.
“Let me assure you that issues of public welfare, including addressing unemployment, education, and other sectoral issues, would be addressed in the UT budget. I further assure the people of Jammu and Kashmir that the budget to be presented on March 7 will be poor and people-friendly,” he said.
Principal opposition BJP said that it would play the role of a constructive opposition in the Legislative Assembly.
Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Assembly and MLA Paddar-Nagseni Assembly constituency, Sunil Sharma, said, “We, as the principal opposition party, are ready to highlight public issues in the Legislative Assembly. We will particularly ask questions related to the ruling NC Government’s failure to fulfill several of its election promises.”
The post Cong praises LG’s address for Statehood assurance, PDP slams appeared first on Daily Excelsior.