Shimla, Apr 2: The Himachal Pradesh Assembly on Monday witnessed an uproar during a debate on rechristening schemes named after former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
BJP members expressed dissatisfaction over the reply of Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh on the matter leading to noisy scenes in the House.
Amid the din, Speaker B B L Butail adjourned the House.
Later, the BJP members said they had staged a walkout from the House.
Replying to a discussion on the issue, Virbhadra said the change in the name of schemes did not mean disrespect to any leader.
He pointed out the then BJP government had also renamed schemes named after former Prime Ministers Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi.
The Chief Minister said the name of Atal Swasthya Sewa Ambulance scheme was changed to Rashtriya Swasthya Sewa to bring uniformity in the name throughout the country.
The Atal School Uniform scheme, which was partly funded from Sarv Shikahsa Abhiyan (SSA) funds, had been named as Mahatma Gandhi Vardi Yojana, he said.
BJP member Rajiv Bindal, who initiated the discussion, said Vajpayee was a tall and respected leader and the state government had not set a healthy precedent by rechristening schemes named after him.
Maheshwar Singh (Himachal Lokhit Party) said had Vajpayee been fit and alert he would have scolded the previous BJP government for naming the schemes after him as there were “scams” in some of these programmes.
He alleged ambulances under Atal Swasthya Sewa Ambulance scheme were purchased at a higher price and demanded a probe.
Responding, the Chief Minister said the matter had come to his notice and a probe would be ordered into the purchase of ambulances.
