NC MLA files
privilege motion against CM
Altaf Wani is indignant over being “ignored”
by Mufti during his tour of Pahalgam
Ahmed Ali Fayyaz
______
SRINAGAR, May 13: Principal
opposition party National Conference’s MLA from Pahalgam Altaf Ahmad Wani is
incensed over being “ignored” by Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed during
his visit to the world-famous tourist attraction. On Wednesday, Wani claimed to
have filed a privilege motion against Mufti even as the ruling People’s
Democratic Party (PDP) spokesman Mehboob Beg asserted that Chief Minister was “not
bound” to include the MLA in his entourage and Speaker as well as Secretary of
Assembly maintained that they had not received any such motion.
Wani alleged at a news
conference that his replacement by PDP’s defeated candidate Rafi Ahmad Mir
during CM’s visit and meetings with the authorities at Pahalgam on Tuesday was
a violation of the precedence and the protocol he was entitled to as MLA. He
claimed to have immediately filed a privilege motion against CM in terms of
Rule 238 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Jammu and Kashmir
Assembly.
Speaker Kavinder Gupta as
well as Secretary of Legislative Assembly Mohammad Ramzan, however, told State
Times that they had not seen any member’s privilege motion till late on
Wednesday. “Such a motion is supposed to be delivered by hand to Speaker. He
reached late today from Jammu and I am not aware if he has received it”, Ramzan
said. “No, I haven’t seen any such motion”, Speaker said on telephone.
PDP’s Chief Spokesperson Dr
Mehboob Beg asserted that Chief Minister was by no law or practice bound to
carry along with him any area’s MLA during an official tour. “Yes, the
concerned legislators are entitled to attend and there’s no question of their
replacement by any individual or authority if it is a District Development
Board meeting. But yesterday Mufti Sahab was on an extensive tour of Anantnag
district and he did not call any District Development Board meeting. Had he
called one, the NC MLA would have been definitely invited along with all MLAs,
MLCs, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha members of the district. Therefore, there’s no
question of violation of any MLA’s protocol”, Beg told State Times.
Flanked by NC MLA Abdul
Majid Larmi, MLCs Ali Mohammad Dar, Qaisar Jamsheed Lone and Showkat Ahmad
Ganai, besides the party’s spokesman Junaid Mattu, Wani complained that a Chief
Minister, who had lately stressed on maintenance of sanctity of the Assembly
and its members, had shown disrespect to an elected peoples’ representative.
Wani said that he had filed the privilege motion with a resolve to
safeguard the democratic rights of the people of Pahalgam who had elected him
as their representative.
“This was not Mufti Sahab’s personal sight-seeing tour of Pahalgam. This
was an official tour where the Chief Minister was accompanied by officers of
the District Administration and where a review was conducted of various works
in the constituency. How can the Chief Minister or the State Government
sideline the constituents of Pahalgam in taking decisions that affect them? I
am the duly elected representative of Pahalgam and I will not allow the
Government to subvert the verdict of the people in Pahalgam. The ‘Warrant of
Precedence Protocol, Privileges and Amenities to the Members of the State
Legislature’ has been violated and I have filed a Privilege Motion against
the Chief Minister today”, Wani said.
“Also as per the Development Authority Act, I am a Member of the Pahalgam
Development Authority. A meeting was held at the Civil Secretariat to review
the Master Plan of Pahalgam under the Chairmanship of Chief Minister and
Minister incharge Tourism Mufti Mohammad Sayeed. I was neither informed nor
invited to attend the meeting. Non-statutory as well as political workers of
PDP along with Government officers were present, making this a political
meeting in the guise of an official meeting. By doing this I was denied my
statutory right to perform the functions of an elected MLA and member of the
Pahalgam Development Authority”, he added.
END
No comments:
Post a Comment