Rajasthan BJP MLA carries basket of locusts into Assembly to draw Congress' attention

In a unique protest to draw Congress government's attention towards farmers who lost crops due to locust menace in the western part of Rajasthan, a BJP MLA, Bihari Lal Nokha, entered the state assembly carrying a basket full of locusts.

"The farmers have faced losses due to locust outbreak. The government should give them compensation. But the government has been very casual about the losses faced by farmers," MLA said outside the Rajasthan Assembly on Friday.

The MLA accused the state government of diverting attention from farmers by focussing on other issues. "The government is focused on the Citizenship Amendment Act. Instead, the government should expedite the compensation distribution to farmers whose crops are affected by locust."

After 26 years, Rajasthan once again was hit by the biggest locust outbreak, beginning from May 2019, in Jaisalmer, which still continues in the second week of January. As per the estimate submitted to the government, crops on 134,052-hectare area in 816 villages of desert districts such as Barmer, Jaisalmer and Bikaner were affected by the swarms which came from Pakistan.

Around 90,000 farmers in these districts have suffered crop loss. he major crops that have suffered a loss due to locusts are cumin, Isabgol, mustard and wheat.

According to the Agriculture Ministry’ Locust Warning Organisation (LWO) bulletin, locusts are flying in from Pakistan’s Sindh province and spreading in villages in Jaisalmer, Jodhpur, Barmer, Pokhran, Kutch, Lakhpat, Bikaner and Shahgarh.  

Resolution against CAA

The state government will introduce a resolution against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in the budget session beginning Friday.

Rajasthan Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot on Thursday said that two-day special session has been convened to pass the resolution. Sachin Pilot said that the Centre should listen to people protesting against the Act across the country.

"If there is no dialogue, the democracy weakens. We are making an attempt to request the central government to reconsider the Act. Especially after Kerala and Punjab have already passed resolutions seeking the withdrawal of the CAA", Pilot said.

Pilot stressed that the legality of the CAA will be decided by the Supreme Court. "The Constitution has given the right to protest but if someone does it, they are attacked and called anti-nationals. Let the Supreme Court decide on it", he added.