Guwahati (Assam) [India], February 14 (HBTV): Assam Assembly Deputy Speaker Numal Momin on Friday stated that the upcoming budget session of the Assam Assembly, set to begin on February 17, will be of significant importance and foster unity among the people of the state.

He further emphasized that the budget would contribute to strengthening communal harmony.

‘This is an important session beginning on February 17... This budget will carry significant importance and will bring together all the people in Assam. As Assam is a diverse state, many communities and religions coexist in communal harmony. Now, they get an opportunity to see this assembly session near their place. This will boost their morale,’ Momin said.

Numal Momin also mentioned that several important bills are expected to be introduced during the session.

‘Several important bills are likely to be introduced in this budget session,’ he added.

Meanwhile, on February 13, Assam Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs Jayanta Mallabaruah ceremonially launched the Online Building Permission System (OBPS) during a programme in Guwahati. The OBPS will be available in 32 municipalities across the state.

Mallabaruah stated that the initiative is aimed at benefiting the public, providing a streamlined and efficient service.

On a separate issue, responding to allegations made by Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma regarding Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi’s wife's alleged links with ISI, Mallabaruah said that the Congress MP should clarify the matter.

Chief Minister Sarma, in an apparent attack on Gaurav Gogoi, suggested that the latter’s questions in Parliament, following his marriage to a British national, indicated a growing focus on sensitive defence matters.

The Chief Minister also raised concerns about the ‘timing’ of certain ‘events’ linked to the Congress MP’s political actions and associations.

‘In 2015, the Pakistani High Commissioner to India, Mr. Abdul Basit, invited a first-term Member of Parliament (MP) and his startup, Policy for Youth, to discuss India-Pakistan relations at the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi,’ Sarma claimed in a post on X without naming the Deputy Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha.

(ANI)