First session of 16th Madhya Pradesh assembly begins; new MLAs start taking oath

Bhopal: Pro-tem speaker of MP state assembly Gopal Bhargawa administered oath of office to newly elected members on the first day of 16th assembly session on Monday here. A four-day session will end on 21st December after oath taking by the MLAs, the election of full-time Speaker and passage of supplementary budget among others. Of the 230 legislators, 207 MLAs including chief minister Dr Mohan Yadav, deputy CMs Jagdish Devda, Rajendra Shukla, LOP Umang Singhar, former CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Narendra Singh Tomar, Nagendra Singh took oath of office today.

The remaining 22 MLAs will be administered oath on Tuesday.

BJP MLA Narendra Singh Tomar (Dimni, Morena) filed his nomination for speaker and is likely to be elected unopposed on Wednesday. CM Yadav welcomed the opposition gesture (not to field any candidate for speaker post) and urged for creative cooperation from the opposition benches. "It will be our endeavour to take the state to new heights. Solemnization rituals will be held in Ujjain Mahakal Lok, Orchha and other religious places in MP," said Dr Yadav.

Former CM Chouhan while speaking to media on the sidelines said the new assembly is largely represented by the young generation, both treasury and opposition benches. "A change is a continuous process and I feel happy to witness it," added Chouhan.

He expressed confidence in the leadership of the new CM and added that under him the state will scale new heights.

Speaking on the sidelines, Bharat Adivasi Party MLA (Sailana seat) Kamleshwar Dodiyar underlined that he will demand for a separate Bheel state inside and outside the Assembly. "The BAP (Bharat Adivasi Party) party’s sole objective is to demand creation of a separate Bheel state comprising some portion of MP/Rajasthan and Gujarat combined. The separate Bheel state should be created with amalgamation of tribal districts in MP such as rural Ratlam (Sailana), Jhabua, Dhar, Badwani, Khargon, Khandwa, Alirajpur and in Rajasthan areas under Udaipur, Pratapgarh, Chittod, Banswada, Dongarpur, Sirohi and some part in Gujarat including Surat, Dahod, Barooch, Panchmahal, Vadodhra," Dodiyar said.

"Bheel Rajya has been in existence even before independence and we are demanding the same. I am representing my party as sole MLA in MP while 3 MLAs of BAP in Rajasthan assembly will raise the voice inside assembly and on all such platforms which are legally available to us," asserted Dodiyar.

"If you term our move as pressure tactics on Tribal issue, you are free to do so, but it is the sole party motive. We are a splinter group of the parent party Bharti Tribal Party," said Dondiyar.