JOIN US9 MLAs suspended from Budget session
In a first of its kind incident, nine legislators of the opposition party have been suspended from the Budget session of Rajasthan Assembly for creating a ruckus and interrupting House proceedings on Tuesday. Of these nine legislators, eight belong to Congress while one is an independent MLA.
The legislators were demanding immediate action against the concerned police officials who had granted the permission to lathicharge some youth Congress leaders and workers who were protesting against the Land Acquisition Bill in Jaipur. The Speaker Kailash Meghwal had to call the House marshals to take away the suspended legislators from the Assembly premises.
Earlier in the afternoon, Youth Congress workers and leaders staged a protest march against the Land Acquisition Bill. The march, led by Congress chief Sachin pilot, national youth party president Amrinder Raja and state president Ashok Chandna assembled near Jyoti Nagar police station directly opposite to the state Assembly.
In order to disperse the protesters, police lathicharged them following which several leaders and workers sustained severe injuries. A dozen party workers were rushed to the hospitals while three are reportedly in a serious condition.
The incident took place when Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje was about to make her speech in Assembly. Congress legislator and youth Congress president Ashok Chandna entered the House and demanded reply from Home Minister over the incident.
Chandna even opened his shirt to show the bruise marks that he sustained during the protest. The high voltage drama irked other Congress leaders who joined Chandna in the well of the House.
Later, the Chief Whip of the ruling party tabled the suspension proposal of all the nine legislators, which was accepted in the House. After the suspension, Speaker directed marshals to throw Congress legislators out of the House.
Later on, state government rejected the demands of the protesting MLAs and justified the police action. Home minister Gulab Chand Kataria said that duty of the police is to maintain law and order so no action is taken without conducting a thorough probe in the incident. The government assured the opposition to constitute a committee to look into the matter.
The suspended legislators includes Ramesh Meena, Dhiraj Gujar, Ashok Chandna, Govind Dotasara, Shravan Kumar, Sukhram Bishnoi, Giriraj Malinga, Brijendra Ola and independent legislator Hanuman Beniwal.
“This is a black day in the democracy of our country. Young leaders were fighting for the rights of farmers. After taking over the reign in Rajasthan, BJP has tried to suppress every agitation by ordering lathicharge, which is not democratic,” said former Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot.
DH News Service