Shimla, Feb 17 (IANS): Expressing anguish over the absence of legislative officers from the assembly during the debate on budget priorities, Himachal Pradesh Congress legislator Asha Kumari said their absence was unfortunate.

"It's a serious issue. As a legislator, it's my right and duty to express anguish," she said.

The legislator said: "Our chief minister (Virbhadra Singh) is one of the experienced chief ministers in the country. (At present) he is in Delhi. It's the duty of the cabinet to see that the officers remain in the house when the debate, especially on budget priorities, is on."

Taking at a jibe at the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for missing from the house, she said: "The opposition is missing and the bureaucracy is also missing. It's unfortunate."

The BJP continued its boycott of the assembly session for the sixth consecutive sitting Monday.

The BJP legislators have been boycotting the house since Feb 7, the day the state's budget was presented, on the pretext of protesting against Virbhadra Singh's "humiliating" remark.

BJP state president Satpal Satti told IANS that Virbhadra Singh had remarked that BJP legislators "are bonded labourers". Official sources said his comment on a senior BJP leader was indirectly aimed at former chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal.

Earlier, the opposition had been disrupting the house since the session began Feb 3.