RANCHI: Members of the ruling INDIA bloc legislature party in Jharkhand held a meeting on Sunday to discuss strategies for the first session of the newly constituted assembly. The session will begin on Monday and conclude on December 12.
During the meeting, chaired by Chief Minister Hemant Soren, all members were asked to be prepared for “logical replies to the questions of the opposition”, an INDIA bloc leader said.
The four-day session will commence with the oath-taking ceremony of MLAs of the 81-member House.
Election of the Speaker, governor’s address, presentation of the second supplementary budget and debates on the governor’s speech are also scheduled during the session, an assembly official said.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Radhakrishna Kishore said that various issues were discussed during the meeting, including the oath-taking of MLAs, the Speaker’s election, the debate on the governor’s speech.
“A detailed discussion was held about oath-taking procedures, especially for new members. Being a parliamentary affairs minister, I have told the members to be prepared for the debates on the governor’s speech and the supplementary budget,” Kishore told reporters after the meeting.
Based on the achievements of the previous government, the ruling alliance members have been prepared to “provide logical replies to all questions of the opposition”, he said.
“The Speaker of the House will also be elected during the session. It was also discussed during the meeting,” he said.
State Education Minister Ramdas Soren said that the ruling alliance has given its consent to previous Speaker Rabindra Nath Mahato.
Congress MLA Kumar Jai Mangal said that Mahato is a senior member of the House and has experience of running the assembly.
JMM legislator Stephen Marandi was sworn in as the Pro-tem Speaker on Thursday.
Hemant Soren took oath as the 14th chief minister of Jharkhand in a grand ceremony here on November 28.
This is the fourth stint of the 49-year-old JMM leader as the chief minister.
The JMM-led alliance on November 23 stormed to power in Jharkhand for the second time in a row, securing 56 seats in the 81-member assembly, while the BJP-headed NDA managed 24.