Ahmedabad, 5 July 2012

In the one-day monsoon session scheduled for July 19, there will be no question hour. For the government it is a constitutional obligation of convening a session within six months. But apart from voting for presidential election, the assembly will not do much in a session that is going to be held only for few hours.

In a letter to Chief Minister Narendra Modi, Leader of Opposition Shaktisinh Gohil said, “Gujarat assembly has a record of excellent traditions. Parliamentary traditions of Gujarat used to be quoted in the country. The monsoon session of the assembly used to meet for considerable period. However after you became Chief Minister, these traditions are being grossly violated It is not justified to call monsoon session for only a day or two. Assembly rules give right to MLAs to ask questions in question hour in the house. However, you have made attempt in the past to not allow MLAs to ask questions. When the assembly is scheduled to meet this month, you are bound by constitutional duty to see that MLAs get enough opportunity to ask questions. Never in the past, was the short session of assembly without the question hour. As an exception, the norm of question hour can be avoided when the first session of a new assembly is held or the session is called in emergency case. The session scheduled this month is a regular session and it must have question hour.”

“In 1993, during the Congress rule, the monsoon session was of 10 days, in 1994, the monsoon session met for 24 days and length of monsoon session of 1995 was of 29 days. While the BJP government called the monsoon session in 2005 only for three days, in 2006 for two days and in 2007 again only two days. In the following years too, the monsoon session was called for two or three days only. The conference of speakers of assembly has unanimously resolved that, the house must meet for 100 days in a year, this should be implemented in Gujarat,” Gohil said in his letter.

“The house should be convened for more days and it should have question hour. There is need that the house meets for more days with question hour to discuss problems of common man and the ways to solve them,” he added.

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