Uttarakhand, July 25: Uttarakhand’s Assembly came to a standstill amid deafening scenes on Friday as the Opposition demanded the arrest of BJP leader Arun Shukla who allegedly made a threatening call to former minister and Congress MLA Tilak Raj Behad.
As soon as the House met at 11 am, angry Congress legislators demanded the immediate arrest of Shukla. Overlooking repeated requests by Speaker Harban Kapoor to calm down, the Congress MLAs continued with their demand. MLAs from the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) also supported Congress and members of both parties rushed to the well of the House. Leader of Opposition Harak Singh Rawat said Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank should make a statement about the house in front of the House.
It is learnt that Behad had allegedly received a threat call from Shukla, who was a state minister during the Congress regime. On Wednesday, Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal had assured members that Shukla would be arrested within three days. Meanwhile, on Thursday evening, Shukla organised a press conference in capital, although he left minutes before addressing it. Congress MLAs have asked the state government why they failed to arrest him despite the fact that Shukla was in the capital. They also accused the government of sheltering him.
Amid shouting of anti-government slogans by the Opposition, parliamentary affairs minister Prakash Pant said the government has promised to arrest the accused within three days and so far, only two days have passed.
—-Agencies