Monsoon session of Jharkhand Assembly begins

Ranchi: The six-day Monsoon session of the Jharkhand Assembly began on Friday.

During the session, the first supplementary budget for 2024-25 will be tabled and several bills will be presented, Speaker Rabindra Nath Mahto said after the House assembled at 11 am.

Stating that the previous sessions had been productive, he expressed hope that debates will remain decent despite differences of opinions among the members.

"Though the session is scheduled for a brief period, it is very important," he said.

The JMM-led ruling alliance partners in Jharkhand held a meeting on Thursday to chalk out strategies during the monsoon session of the Assembly and expressed hope that the opposition will cooperate to ensure the smooth functioning of the House.

Chief Minister Hemant Soren also shared his optimism for a productive and orderly session of the Assembly, expressing hope that all parties would collaborate effectively to address the state's issues.

The opposition, on the other hand, planned to focus on several issues, especially corruption, law and order, alleged Bangladeshi infiltration and non-fulfilment of promises by the government.

BJP state president Babulal Marandi said party MLAs will raise demographic changes in Santhal Pargana in the Assembly.

"The tribal population has declined to 28 per cent in 2011 from earlier 44.67 per cent and Muslim population rose from 9.44 per cent to 22.73 per cent in Santhal Parganas," he claimed before the start of the session.

Speaker Rabindra Nath Mahto had also convened an all-party meeting on Thursday to ensure the smooth functioning of the House during the six-day long monsoon session, which will end on August 2.

The Speaker's Tribunal on Thursday disqualified two legislators - JMM's Lobin Hembrom and Congress's Jai Prakash Bhai Patel - under the anti-defection law with effect from July 26.