JAIPUR, Feb 27: There was no end to the nearly week-long impasse in the Rajasthan Assembly, with Congress MLAs boycotting Thursday’s proceedings and holding a mock session outside to protest against a state minister’s remarks against former prime minister Indira Gandhi.
The deadlock over Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Avinash Gehlot’s comments in the assembly last week escalated after the Congress’ state president Govind Singh Dotasra’s “undignified remarks” against Speaker Vasudev Devnani.
Holding placards, opposition MLAs marched towards the assembly and sat outside the premises. They raised slogans and demanded an apology from the minister for his remarks.
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The Congress lawmakers also held a mock Question Hour outside the House, with Ghanshyam acting as the “chair” while the other members asked him questions on ruling BJP leaders’ behaviour.
Inside the House, ruling party MLAs accused the Congress members of disrupting the proceedings and demanded that the deadlock be ended.
Former chief minister and senior Congress leader Ashok Gehlot told reporters outside the assembly that both sides should cooperate to end the impasse.
“This should end so that debate takes place in the assembly. The treasury and the opposition benches must cooperate and there should be no ego… This tension is unnecessary,” he said.
Leader of Opposition Tikaram Jully said they were open for talks but the government did not want to run the House.
“The minister had made the remarks. We slept in the assembly for three days. Talks were held to end the deadlock. Three opposition leaders expressed regret. Despite this, the minister is not replying,” he said.
“I have communicated to the chief minister and the parliamentary affairs minister that our doors are open for talks. Dotasra ji also said that he could visit the speaker’s residence to clear things up. The government is afraid of the performance of its ministers… That is why it does not want to run the House,” Jully said.
Rajasthan’s Minister of State for Home Jawahar Singh Bedham told reporters that people elected the Congress MLAs but they ran away from the House.
“Undignified words were used by the Congress state president in the House and they were published prominently in newspapers. He is raising questions on that,” he said.
The minister also said Ashok Gehlot was busy posting messages on social media but did not come to the assembly.
Bedham contended that the word “dadi” used by Avniash Gehlot to describe Indira Gandhi was not unparliamentary and noted that former prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru was referred to as “chacha”.
“Dotasra ji should apologise for his remarks against the chair. He holds a dignified post as the party’s state chief. He should come to the House. Who is stopping him? He should apologise and let the House run smoothly,” he demanded.
During Zero Hour, BJP MLA Arjun Lal raised the impasse issue and said no disrespectful remarks were made.
The deadlock should be ended, he demanded.
Replying to him, Bedham said positive efforts were made by the government to break the deadlock.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Jogaram Patel, along with others, held several rounds of talks with senior Congress legislators during which the Laxmangarh MLA (Dotasra) agreed to tender an apology for his conduct and the words used to refer to Devnani, Bedham said.
But when he spoke in the House, he did not say the things that he had agreed to during the meeting in the speaker’s chamber, he added.
BJP MLA Srichand Kriplani said the Congress legislators would not have created a ruckus had Avinash Gehlot used the word “grandmother” instead of “dadi”.
On Tuesday, Devnani had said the words used by Dotasra against him were “insulting” to the chair.
Dotasra allegedly made the remarks against Devnani during the Congress’ dharna in the House following the adjournment of proceedings.
During Question Hour on February 28, Avinash Gehlot had pointed to the opposition and said, “In the 2023-24 budget, like always, you named the scheme (on working women’s hostels) after your ‘dadi (grandmother)’ Indira Gandhi.”
The remark triggered an uproar, leading to three adjournments and the suspension of six Congress MLAs.
Demanding an apology from the minister and the revocation of its members’ suspension, the Congress MLAs began a sit-in in the assembly.
Several rounds of talks between the two sides were held in the speaker’s chamber but the issue could not be resolved as Devnani and Patel were not satisfied with the statement made by Dotasra. (PTI)
