Monsoon Session Opens in Chaos as Congress-BJP Face-off Overshadows House Business
SHIMLA, AUGUST 21: The monsoon session of the Himachal Pradesh Vidhan Sabha opened on a stormy note on Friday, with the inaugural day virtually lost to political sloganeering, protests and a dramatic walkout by the ruling Congress.
Instead of legislative business taking centre stage, the House became a theatre of confrontation between the treasury benches and the Opposition BJP.
The ruling Congress, led by Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, walked out of the Assembly and raised slogans against the BJP, alleging that Opposition members had not participated in the singing of the National Anthem in the House.
The Congress sought to turn the episode into a political issue, accusing the BJP of displaying what it termed “anti-national” conduct.
The confrontation came after BJP MLAs entered the Assembly carrying placards targeting the Sukhu government over its election guarantees. The Opposition alleged that the Congress had failed to fulfil the promises made before the 2022 Assembly elections, accusing the government of deceiving the people of Himachal Pradesh.
The BJP particularly targeted the Congress over its employment guarantee and other poll promises, alleging that the promised five lakh jobs had not materialised. Its placards and slogans accused the government of sacrificing its guarantees and failing to deliver on commitments made to voters.
The counter-protest by the treasury benches then shifted the focus from the Opposition's charges to the National Anthem controversy, with the Chief Minister, ministers and Congress legislators coming out of the House and raising slogans against the BJP.
The spectacle on the opening day has raised concerns over the likely course of the monsoon session.
With the Sukhu government entering its fourth year in office, the Opposition is expected to intensify its attack over unfulfilled guarantees, unemployment, finances and governance, while the ruling party appears ready to aggressively counter every charge.
What was expected to be the beginning of serious legislative business instead turned into a political showdown, with both sides using the floor of the Assembly—and the cameras outside it—to project their competing narratives.
The opening day thus offered an early indication that the monsoon session could become less about legislative consensus and more about political confrontation, with the Congress and BJP appearing more interested in outshouting each other than allowing the House to get down to business.
