The state Assembly on Saturday passed the Rs 1,956-crore supplementary budget in the second half. The assembly saw repeated disruptions leading to several adjournments. The MLAs, cutting across party lines, raised a host of issues starting from the inter-community clash at Shilagain in Chanho block of Ranchi to the need for a domicile policy.
Each time the House met after an adjournment, BJP MLAs accompanied by JVM’s Nirbhaya Kumar Shahabadi, who has already announced to join the rival party, did not allow Speaker Shashank Sekhar Bhokta to conduct House business, shouting for a CBI probe into the Chanho clash.
A 20-minute discussion on power crisis in the state also took place in the second half led by BJP MLA Raghubar Das.
Finance Minister Rajendra Prasad Singh expressed regret when the Speaker drew his attention that there could be constitutional crisis if the fund requirement sent by the Assembly was reduced by the government.
The Speaker’s concern came after the supplementary budget showed Rs 81.19 lakh as against the fund requirement of Rs 2.07 crore sent by the Assembly secretariat. The finance minister said it would not happen in future.
Outside the Assembly, Congress MLA Anant Pratap Deo staged a dharna, demanding that Garhwa be declared drought-hit. He also demanded blacklisting of the contractor involved in construction of NH-75.
