The main Opposition Congress party on Sunday alleged that the BJP
government of Uttarakhand thwarted the democratic values and
traditional norms of the parliamentary procedure in the four-day
budget session 2026-27 concluded on March 13 at Bhararisain in
Gairsain.
The party alleged in its post-budget session media briefing in
Dehradun that the Pushkar Singh Dhami government did not follow the
tradition of presenting budget in the house and threw the democratic
values in the bay this budget session held at Bhararisain in Gairsain
from March 9 to March 13. Leader of the Opposition in the state
assembly Yashpal said, “Presenting the budget on the same day as the
Governor’s address to the house was contrary to established
parliamentary traditions across the country.”
Arya alleged during the recently-concluded budget session of the state
assembly at Gairsain, the government thwarted all democratic norms in
running the house. “Apart from tabling the budget on the same day as
the Governor’s address, the Dhami government did not even bother to
ensure the presence of ruling party MLAs in the house. There was
extremely low attendance of ministers and BJP MLAs during the budget
discussion. There was a clear lack of accountability on the part of
the government towards the people of Uttarakhand. It appeared as if
the Gairsain assembly session was mere a formality,” said Arya.
He further accused the government of avoiding discussions in the house
on critical issues, such as unemployment, inflation, and migration.
The Congress legislator alleged “the Dhami government was focused
solely on pushing their own agenda in the Bharadisain assembly
session.” “Grant’s-in-Aid and the budget were passed with the least
strength of the treasury benches in the house. Government’s conduct in
the house was nothing but a show of arrogance owing to its numbers in
the house. There was complete disregard to the democratic values in
the house” said Senior Congress MLA and former PCC president Pritam
Singh.
Arya, on the other hand, leveled a serious charge that the government
“is preparing to dole out valuable government lands owned mainly by
the state Irrigation Department at Vikasnagar, Mussoorie and Yamuna
Colony into private hands.” The Opposition MLAs claimed that as the
Dhami government patted its back for presenting ₹1.11-lakh crore
budget for financial years 2026-27, state’s debt burden has escalated
to around ₹1.08 lakh crore.