Rajasthan Assembly deadlock ends after CM intervenes, six Congress MLAs' suspension revoked

Jaipur: The nearly weeklong deadlock in the Rajasthan Assembly over state minister Avinash Gehlot's remark on former prime minister Indira Gandhi ended on Thursday following Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma's intervention.

The suspension of six Congress MLAs, including its state chief Govind Singh Dotasra, was also revoked after Leader of Opposition Tikaram Jully tendered an apology on behalf of the Laxmangarh lawmaker for his conduct towards the speaker.

Sharma held a meeting with Speaker Vasudev Devnani and Jully in the speaker's chamber to break the deadlock.

With the impasse ending, Congress legislators entered the House and took part in the proceedings.

Jully thanked Sharma for taking the initiative to break the deadlock.

Sharma said such deadlocks, even if they occurred, should not last long.

Devnani said Dotasra's conduct was not worth pardoning but he accepted Jully's apology.

He described as unfortunate the words Dotasra had used for him and said the leader of the opposition should ensure that he did not conduct himself in such a manner in future.

He also gave a ruling that if an MLA reached the speaker's dais during any future protest, they would be suspended without bringing a proposal.

On Devnani's direction, the government's chief whip Jogeshwar Garg moved a proposal to revoke the suspension of the six Congress MLAs -- Dotasara, Ramkesh Meena, Amin Kagzi, Jakir Hussain, Hakam Ali and Sanjay Kumar.

The House passed the proposal by voice vote, following which the suspensions were revoked.

The opposition members then requested the speaker to call the MLAs whose suspensions were revoked inside the House but the speaker said that it would be done on Friday.

After this, Jully began his speech on the state budget.

Earlier in the day, Congress MLAs boycotted proceedings and held a mock session outside to protest against Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Avinash Gehlot's remark against former prime minister Indira Gandhi.

The deadlock over the minister's comment in the assembly last week escalated after the Dotasra's "undignified remarks" against 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 remark.

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.

Leader of Opposition Jully said they were open for talks but the government did not want to run the House.

"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," he 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.

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 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 but the issue could not be resolved as Devnani and Patel were not satisfied with the statement made by Dotasra.