The second day of the Jharkhand Assembly’s supplementary monsoon session turned stormy as repeated disruptions and walkouts overshadowed proceedings. The session, convened after being cut short earlier this month following the death of veteran leader Shibu Soren, was expected to debate the first supplementary budget of the financial year worth Rs 4,296.62 crore.
Instead, clashes between treasury and opposition benches dominated the day, forcing multiple adjournments.
The House opened with opposition BJP legislators trooping into the well demanding a CBI probe into the alleged encounter of Surya Hansda and protesting the construction of RIMS-2 on fertile raiyati land in Nagri. In a counter-move, the ruling JMM, Congress, RJD, and CPI-ML members staged protests against the proposed 130th Constitutional Amendment Bill in Parliament and Bihar’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter rolls. Both sides raised slogans, leaving Question Hour paralysed.
Speaker Rabindranath Mahato repeatedly appealed for order, but with MLAs from both sides in the well, proceedings were first adjourned till 12:30 pm, then 2:00 pm, and later till 3:30 pm.
Despite the uproar, Parliamentary Affairs and Finance Minister Radhakrishna Kishore tabled the Appropriation Bill and presented the government’s case for the supplementary budget. He asserted that the Hemant Soren government had shown fiscal prudence, citing that over Rs 23,799 crore (26.5 per cent of plan expenditure) had already been spent in four-and-a-half months, and revenue collections touched Rs 33,707 crore. “Our government does not need to borrow from the market, as we remain well below the 3 per cent borrowing cap,” he said.
The minister underlined agriculture and irrigation as the government’s focus, contrasting the Rs 15,887 crore spent on agriculture over two decades (2001–2019) with Rs 26,464 crore allocated in the past six years. He also highlighted the ‘Maiyaan Samman Yojana’, under which women receive Rs 2,500 monthly, as evidence of direct welfare reaching households. Kishore accused the Centre of starving Jharkhand of funds, claiming the state received just 17 per cent of its due share in central taxes.
The opposition, however, walked out during his reply, accusing the government of evading accountability. BJP MLAs insisted that Nagri farmers’ rights were being trampled and reiterated the demand for a judicial or CBI probe into the Hansda encounter.
Leader of Opposition Babulal Marandi invoked history, recalling how earlier attempts in 1956–57 and 2012 to acquire Nagri land for public institutions were rolled back after villagers’ resistance. “Farmers have paid revenue receipts for decades. The Chief Minister must assure the House that raiyati rights will remain intact,” he said.
The acrimony was not limited to the Assembly floor. Outside the House, ruling alliance MLAs staged demonstrations against the 130th amendment proposal and SIR exercise in Bihar, accusing the BJP of undermining democracy. Simultaneously, BJP legislators protested with placards demanding cancellation of the RIMS-2 project and action in the Hansda case.
What was meant to be a budget-focused sitting instead became a political battleground. The clash of priorities, treasury benches rallying against central moves, and the opposition hammering the government over local controversies ensured that governance issues took a back seat. The supplementary budget, cleared amid protests, risks being remembered less for its allocations and more for the chaos that accompanied it.
As the Assembly reconvenes on Tuesday, attention will shift to bills expected to be introduced, including the Jharkhand State Universities Bill, the Jharkhand Coaching Centres (Regulation) Bill, and the MSME (Special Provisions) Bill. Whether those can be debated meaningfully or meet the same fate as Question Hour remains uncertain.