Governor Kalyan Singh reads out Himachal govt’s achievements in 3 minutes

In a departure from the tradition, Himachal Pradesh Governor Kalyan Singh concluded his address to state assembly in three minutes reading only a select portion of the 39-page text and urged the members of the House to treat the speech ‘as read’ by him.

The governor’s short address left many members of the assembly surprised.

“This was first time in the state’s legislative history when the Governor has chosen not to read the full text. It’s an established tradition that every Governor reads out the entire speech (a policy statement of the government) approved by the cabinet after due deliberations. I really don’t know the reasons behind it, but we ( Congress ) accept the decision of the His Excellency,” said Asha Kumari, a senior congress MLA and former minister.

Raj Bhawan insiders said that the governor’s office had conveyed to the state government that his address will not last for more than 5 to 10 minutes.

“The Governor wanted his speech to be short and compressed in a few pages. The Congress government was not in agreement on this issue. So, it chose to include all its achievements, initiatives and schemes of last two years in the speech,” a senior government functionary told The Indian Express .

Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh said that his party had no problem with the governor reading a shortened speech. “Yes, it’s a new thing to many MLAs but it’s also part of an accepted parliamentary practice in few state assemblies .We have no problem with this,” he said.

Leader of Opposition Prem Kumar Dhumal also agreed that it is up to the governor to read the entire text or opt out of it.

Kalyan Singh, who is Governor of Rajasthan, holds additional charge of Himachal Pradesh after Urmila Singh had completed her five-year term in January 2015.

Source:: Indian Express