Rajasthan assembly adjourned after Opposition disruption, but six bills passed

Jaipur Amid chaos, the monsoon session of the Rajasthan assembly was adjourned sine die on Friday after passing six bills.

The Opposition Congress stalled the house raising issues such as inflation, fuel price hike, farmers’ loan waiver and unemployment. Throughout the session on Thursday, the Congress MLAs stayed in the well and raised anti-government slogans, forcing the speaker Kailash Meghwal to adjourn the house twice.

As soon as the Question Hour began, Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Rameshwar Dudi and Congress deputy whip Govind Singh Dotasara raised the issues of rising fuel prices and police action on Youth Congress workers Thursday when they were protesting against alleged corruption in the Rafale deal and unemployment

Parliamentary affair minister Rajendra Rathore objected and urged the speaker to direct the opposition to come according to rules and the government is ready to reply. “The people of the state are watching the conduct of the Opposition,” he added.

Education Minister Kiran Maheshwari said the government wants to answer the members’ questions but the Congress doesn’t want the House to function. As ruckus prevailed, Meghwal said that the conduct of members is inappropriate and adjourned the House for 45 minutes.

The uproar continued as the house resumed after adjournment with Congress whip Govind Singh Dotasara demanding time to speak on farm loan waiver. He alleged that the government has cheated farmers in the name of loan waiver.

The opposition again trooped into the well and started raising slogans. Meanwhile, countering the charges, state cooperative minister Ajay Singh Kilak said that the government has helped over 19.24 lakh farmers with loan waiver by distributing Rs 5461 crore, and the rest will be covered by October 31. “Till date, the Rajasthan government has distributed over Rs 70,000 crore of crop loans to farmers and by the end of the financial year, it will reach Rs 80,000 crore. Whereas the previous Congress government had distributed interest-free Rs 25000 crore crop loan during their tenure,” he said.

Joining the Congress MLA, NPP MLA Naveen Pilania also stepped into the well holding a paper stating purchase of Kharif crops on minimum support price. The speaker again adjourned the house for 1.30 hours.

The Opposition continued their protest as the house resumed but deputy speaker Rao Rajendra Singh called for the business. The house on Friday passed six bills through voice votes. However, on three bills, few members, including one of BJP raised an objection.

The assembly was adjourned sine die at 3.25pm.

“We raised the issue of increase in prices of petrol and diesel and asked the CM to reply. When the prices can be cheaper in other states such as Delhi and Haryana, why can’t it be done here in Rajasthan? The policy of the BJP government is not in favour of the public,” Dudi said.

He said on Thursday police lathicharged Youth Congress activists, who were holding a peaceful protest. The government should have taken action against responsible police officials. “The BJP intends to kill democracy and we will not let it happen. They shelved 4000 questions and do not wish to have discussions on burning issues affecting people,” he said.

First Published: Sep 08, 2018 01:15 IST