Patna: Ruling NDA members on Monday raised the
issue of Bihar governor Devanand Konwar reportedly withholding
Bihar University and Patna University (Amendments) Bill 2010
already passed by the two houses of the state legislature, in
the state assembly forcing speaker U N Choudhary to say that
he would personally look into the matter.
Senior BJP MLA Amrendra Pratap Singh raised the issue
through a special reference in the house.
He informed the house that the bill had already been
passed by the house on March 26, 2010, but it remained
withheld in the governor secretariat since then.
Singh further said the withholding of the bills was
against the `prestige` of the house.
"Whether it is a financial bill or treated otherwise is
sole discretion of the speaker and withholding the bills by
the
governor secretariat is a matter of concern for parliamentary
system," Singh said.
Ruling JD(U) member Usha Srivastava too supported Singh
and wanted the ruling of the chair.
Speaker said he would personally look into the matter.
Another BJP member Vinod Narayan Jha alleged that the
governor secretariat withholding the bill is an encroachment
of the rights of the house and if the practice persists it
will weaken the legislative powers.
To which, Leader of the Opposition in the house Abdul
Bari Siddiqui said any attempt to bring the chair of speaker
and Raj Bhavan on a collision course was "not good for
parliamentary democracy" and the matter be resolved by the
office of speaker and governor secretariat.
PTI
