Rajasthan Vidhan Sabha / Beds, mattresses, food and kirtan… MLAs angry with suspension protested all night

Rajasthan Vidhan Sabha: The matter of suspension of six Congress MLAs for the entire session during the budget session of Rajasthan Legislative Assembly is gaining momentum. Congress MLAs started a sit-in in the House against this suspension, which is still going on. After this decision taken by the Speaker of the Assembly on Friday, there was an uproar in the House and ultimately the proceedings had to be adjourned till Monday.

Sit-in and Congress strategy

In protest against the suspension, the Congress MLAs sat on a sit-in in the House overnight and started singing bhajans by laying mattresses there. Their main demand is that Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Avinash Gehlot apologize for his remarks. Apart from this, the Congress state leadership has given instructions to protest in all the districts on Saturday and burn the effigy of the minister in protest against this incident.

Deadlock between the government and the opposition

This incident in the Assembly is being discussed everywhere. The suspended MLAs are also not ready to back down. Talks took place between the government and Congress MLAs till late Friday night, but no solution could be found. Many ministers reached out to meet the MLAs for talks, but no consensus was reached. It is believed that this protest may continue till Monday as the assembly proceedings will resume on Monday.

What is the root of the controversy?

The entire controversy started during the Question Hour in the Assembly on Friday when Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Avinash Gehlot made a comment on former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. In response to a question, he said that a scheme in 2023-24 was named after Indira Gandhi. Congress got furious over this comment and the MLAs came to the well of the House and started protesting.

The situation worsened when they reached the Speaker's table, forcing the Assembly Speaker to adjourn the proceedings for half an hour. When the proceedings resumed, Chief Whip Jogeshwar Garg proposed the suspension of the Congress MLAs, which was accepted by Assembly Speaker Vasudev Devnani and suspended six MLAs from the budget session.

Effects of suspension

• The suspended MLAs have been deprived of many facilities, the main ones being:
• They will not be allowed to enter the assembly premises.
• They will not be able to ask any questions during this session.
• Additional allowances and facilities provided during the session will be stopped.

Way forward

Given the sit-in of the MLAs and the deadlock with the government, it is difficult to say when a solution will be found. Now all eyes are on the proceedings of the assembly on Monday, where some conclusion of this dispute can be reached. At the same time, the state-wide protest by the Congress can also become a challenge for the government.