Shimla, April 2 The Himachal Pradesh Assembly on Thursday witnessed a minor argument between the ruling party and the opposition during the Question Hour, after the speaker disallowed the leader of the opposition from asking a supplementary question.
As Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu was answering a question related to the expansion of Gaggal Airport in Kangra, Leader of the Opposition (LoP) Jai Ram Thakur rose to ask a supplementary question. Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania remarked that 20 minutes had already been allocated to the question, and there were other questions listed as well.
As the speaker proceeded with the next question, Thakur insisted that he wanted to ask the supplementary question.
The speaker asked the LoP to take his seat and said, "Whenever the speaker addresses the House, it is the duty of all the members to listen to him. It is a convention, a precedent, mentioned under Rule 299."
Normal proceedings resumed as the speaker allowed Thakur to speak.
Pointing out that the Congress government had taken a "non-budget" loan from HUDCO, Thakur sought to know the terms and conditions and the interest rate of the loan.
Chief Minister Sukhu remarked that it was not related to the main question, and the information sought by the LoP would be collected and provided to him.
In his reply to the main question, Sukhu said that the government has set a target to acquire the entire land for the expansion of Gaggal Airport by the end of the year. He said that the government has already paid Rs 1,960 crore as compensation to families whose lands were acquired, while a Rs 1,500 crore payment was pending.
The airport is currently 1,370 metres long; it would be increased to 3,110 metres. If the Airport Authority of India does not undertake the construction, the state government will explore other options, including executing the project in a public-private-partnership mode, the chief minister said.
He clarified that compensation would be given only to those people who have a legal claim on the land.