On the last day of Himachal Pradesh Vidhan Sabha session, opposition BJP again staged a walkout after the Chief Minister did not give a positive response to its request to refer to the Select Committee the Himachal Pradesh Cooperative Societies (Amendment) Bill.
Despite the walkout, the Bill was passed through voice vote. Virbhadra Singh initially agreed to refer the matter, but withdrew his statement on the plea that the ordinance would lapse if the Bill was not passed.
The amendment provides that both elected and nominated members of managing committees of cooperative societies will be eligible to be elected as chairman and vice-chairman.
Opposition criticized the move and pressed for withdrawal as they claimed that it was against spirit of the cooperative movement and violated the 97th Amendment. Leader of opposition Prem Kumar Dhumal asked Govt not to show undue haste in passing the Bill. He said that the passing of the Bill would bring the state into conflict with 97th Amendment passed by the Lok Sabha on December 22, 2011, and the Rajya Sabha on December 28, 2011. He said that only two Directors could be nominated in addition to the 21 as per the 97th Amendment and they could neither have voting rights nor could they be nominated as Director or Chairman. He also advised to wait for the court decision before taking any decision on it.
Speaker Brij Bihari Lal Butail later adjourned sine die the Assembly. He said 19 Bills were passed and four withdrawn, besides the Budget for 2013-14. He said there were 18 sittings, including two days for private members, and the BJP staged a walkout more than six times.
