Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, July 7: Finance Minister Haseeb Drabu made two rather unusual requests to Speaker of the Assembly Kavinder Gupta today.
He sought separate directions to two opposition MLAs — one to salute him from the Well of the House and other to resign as a legislator.
He claimed that National Conference (NC) MLA Devender Rana, while participating in the discussion on the GST resolution, had said he would salute him from the Well if the Constitutional safeguards were included in the preamble of the Presidential order on the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) in Jammu and Kashmir.
“A direction may be given that he (Rana) salutes me whenever the next session takes place as he is not present in the House today,” Drabu said, prompting everyone present, including mediapersons and those at the visitors’ gallery, to burst into laughter.
Referring to Congress legislator G M Saroori’s remark that if the safeguards were included in the Presidential order on GST, he would put in his papers, the Minister said a direction should now be issued to the opposition MLA asking him to resign as the condition set by him was fulfilled.
When approached for his reaction, NC provincial president and MLA Nagrota, Devender Singh Rana said: “I salute Drabu for getting demoted as 12th man of the cricket team of which he was vice captain till yesterday. His powers have been reduced to that of a Municipal Councilor from the Finance Minister of the State’’.
Rana said by getting 279-A to the State, the entire powers of J&K Legislature, which were wish State Legislature, have been surrendered to the GST Council, thereby compromising fiscal autonomy of the State. “Introduction of Article 246-A and 279-A have reduced Article 370 of the Indian Constitution and Section 5 of the J&K Constitution to a husk,’’ he said, adding, the Presidential ordinance showcases the deceit of PDP-BJP Government.
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