The Rajasthan Assembly witnessed noisy scenes during the budget session on Tuesday, when the Opposition BJP members first questioned the government about the revenue loss after Deepika Padukone-starrer movie Chhapaak was declared tax-free and later boycotted the Question Hour on their supplementary questions not being allowed.
BJP MLA from Beawar Shankar Singh Rawat asked a written question about the film, but he was not satisfied with the reply of Parliamentary Affairs Minister Shanti Dhariwal. When Mr. Dhariwal said that declaring Chhapaak tax-free was a “policy decision” in view of the movie’s message to the society in support of acid attack survivors, Mr. Rawat alleged that the decision was taken because of Ms. Padukone’s “political inclinations”.
Speaker C.P. Joshi expunged Mr. Rawat’s supplementary question and said he would not allow any query which had no connection with the original question and pertained to the Department of Culture. Any new question should be asked separately through the proper procedure, he ruled.
Mr. Dhariwal told the House that the tax calculation to find out the revenue loss could only be done after February 20. The BJP members entered the well and raised slogans, while Leader of the Opposition Gulab Chand Kataria tried to speak on the issue, but the Speaker did not allow him.
Ms. Padukone’s visit to Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi to express solidarity with the students attacked by some masked persons on the campus on January 5 had led to a controversy.
After the uproar, the BJP members demanded that their right to ask questions should be protected by the Speaker and staged a walkout, boycotting the Question Hour.