Bhopal: The monsoon session of the Madhya Pradesh assembly ended abruptly on Tuesday as Speaker Sitasaran Sharma adjourned the proceedings sine die amid stiff opposition from Congress MLAs.
The session, which started on Monday, had already been shortened to just five sittings due to the upcoming elections in the state, much to the chagrin of the opposition Congress, which had demanded that the session be extended to at least 10 days.
Accusing the ruling BJP of running away from discussing issues of public importance, the Congress said that its MLAs would hold a ‘janata ki adalat’ (public court) in which they would discuss issues they weren’t allowed to debate in the House.
“We would sit outside the assembly and if not allowed to do so, at any other place for three days,” Leader of Opposition, Ajay Singh, told the media at a press conference.
He rued the fact that the ruling BJP did not allow the no-trust motion to be moved in the Assembly without any ruling from the speaker. “I am an MLA since 1985, but I haven’t seen assembly getting adjourned unceremoniously in the manner it did on Tuesday.”
Stormy scenes were witnessed in the Assembly on both Monday and Tuesday, ensuring that none of the business listed could be taken up.
While on the first day, BJP and Congress MLAs engaged in heated exchanges over the demand that the no-trust motion be taken up, the second day saw an uproar in the House over BJP introducing a censure motion against the Emergency imposed by the Indira Gandhi government.
As soon as the proceedings started on Tuesday, parliamentary affairs minister Narottam Mishra termed the imposition of Emergency a ‘black day’ and called for a censure motion to be passed against it.
The BJP MLAs backed the motion while the Congress lawmakers opposed the move and instead, insisted on an apology from the ruling party MLAs. As a result of the ensuing din, the house was adjourned twice.
Adding to the chaos was the allegation levelled by a BJP MLA against a senior leader of her own party. Neelam Mishra accused Rajendra Shukl, a minister in the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government, of harassing her family.
During the zero hour, the MLA from Sirmaur stood up and accused the Rewa district police of trying to implicate her and her family members in false cases at the behest of Shukl.
Seeking action in her case, she broke down in front of Speaker, who directed the home minister to reply to her query. Congress and BSP leaders extended the support to Mishra and demanded action. Shukl meanwhile denied the accusations, “I haven’t connived against anyone and haven’t got anyone arrested,” he said.
As a result of the repeated adjournments and disruptions, the Speaker decided to adjourn the session sine die. The customary photo session of all legislators was also cancelled.
Comments
0 comment