Gairsain, Oct 28 — Independent MLA Umesh Kumar, who represents the Khanpur constituency in the Uttarakhand Assembly, resigned from the House on Wednesday while questioning the Opposition's conduct and expressing disappointment over what he described as a lack of support from opposition members on important public issues.
Kumar said that over the past four years, he had repeatedly expected the Opposition to cooperate with him on issues concerning farmers and the broader public interest.
However, he alleged that his expectations had been disappointed on several occasions. He claimed that he had consistently supported the Opposition during its protests, but its members had failed to reciprocate when he sought their backing on matters affecting his constituency and the people.
Speaking to reporters, Kumar said, "I have submitted my resignation from the House, and I am aggrieved by the attitude of the Opposition. I supported them at every step... Even when the Opposition slept in the House overnight, I slept on the floor with them."
"However, whenever I raised issues regarding Haridwar, farmers, interest rates on Kisan Credit Cards, disaster relief, sugar mills for farmers, permanent resident certificates for Haridwar residents, or Anganwadi and ASHA workers, I kept expecting them to stand with me, but they never did," he added.
Meanwhile, the Congress party continued its agitation for the second consecutive day on Wednesday during the two-day Assembly session, which began on Tuesday in Gairsain.
The Congress MLAs staged a protest at the Uttarakhand Assembly premises, opposing the short duration of the ongoing session and demanding an extension to discuss issues affecting various constituencies, including roads, healthcare, education and corruption, while also raising public grievances.
The protesters also highlighted the Ankita Bhandari murder case and questioned the ruling party's silence on the matter.