Excelsior Correspondent
Srinagar, Oct 28: Unhappy over the conduct of proceedings, Congress MLAs in the Legislative Assembly today alleged that they felt “undermined” and “discriminated against” in the House.
The Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader G A Mir went on to state that proceedings appeared like a “fixed match” between the Government and the opposition benches.
The issue surfaced when Congress Chief Whip Nizamuddin Bhat was seen collecting his belongings and attempting to stage a walkout after he was allegedly denied an opportunity to speak.
Seeing him moving towards the exit, fellow Congress members stopped him, prompting Mir to intervene and seek time to speak.
Speaking for the first time during the ongoing session, Mir expressed disappointment over the way the House was being run.
“For the last two days, we have been witnessing that it is a sort of fixed match. Kindly look into it—when a member rises to make a small mention, the speeches are too long,” Mir said.
He added that members often digress from subjects while others are not given a chance to speak. “The House has limited time; all members should be given equal representation,” he said.
Mir further alleged that even during yesterday’s proceedings, there was a “fish market” atmosphere, and Congress members were overlooked.
“Yesterday, Bhat was not given time. Since morning, he has got up twice but it did not catch your attention,” Mir told the Speaker, urging him to ensure “equal opportunity and subject-specific debates.”
Responding to the remarks, the Speaker clarified that he had received a slip from Nizamuddin Bhat, in his capacity as Chief Whip, stating that Irfan Hafeez Lone would speak for the party.
“I have the slip, and time was given to Irfan. Then Bhat said he also wanted to speak. I told him he would get time after two minutes, but he got up to leave. What is my mistake?” the Speaker asked.
Bhat, however, maintained that Congress MLAs felt “undermined” as a group and “discriminated against.” “I got up five times but was not allowed to speak,” he said.
“Even when supplementaries were allowed on drug abuse, I was told I didn’t have a question and was asked to sit down in a disrespectful manner. We decided not to participate in today’s proceedings.”
He added that Irfan Hafeez Lone had requested that only his name be sent since he had something important to raise.
“I wanted to speak about the sanctity of the House. The way the discussion unfolded allowed a divisive agenda to run,” Bhat said.
He cautioned that discussions taking a regional turn “will have fatal results,” stressing that “business rules do not permit anything that divides the House, undermines its dignity, or prevents a member from raising constituency-specific issues.”
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