Despite posing queries, over dozen Madhya Pradesh MLAs skip Question Hour; minister cites wedding season as reason

Bhopal: Over a dozen MLAs from the treasury and Opposition benches skipped the Question Hour of the Madhya Pradesh assembly on Friday despite their queries being listed for replies, with a minister attributing their absence to the ongoing weddings that people expect them to mark their attendance at.

Legislative Affairs Minister Kailash Vijayvargiya also suggested in the House that the assembly calendar be drawn up keeping the wedding season in mind in future.

It was perhaps for the time in the recent times that so many members remained absent during the Question Hour despite having their questions listed for replies.

After calling member Nitendra Brajendra Singh Rathore's name, whose question was listed as 25th and last, Speaker Narendra Singh Tomar called the names of at least a dozen more members, but none of them responded.

The MLAs who were absent included Kamleshwar Dodiyar, Kunwar Singh Tekam, Rajendra Bharti, Narendra Singh Kushwaha, Dhirendra Bahadur Singh, Arvind Pateria, Satish Malviya, Rajesh Kumar Shukla, Madhu Bhagat, Bharosingh, Mukesh Malhotra, Virendra Singh Lodhi, Atif Aqeel and Bhupendra Singh.

After the speaker called the names once again, minister Vijayvargiya said the wedding season was at its peak and it was difficult for a public representative to skip these events in their respective constituencies.