Debate on BJP’s two-year report sparks repeated adjournments in Rajasthan Assembly

Jaipur, Feb 21 (IANS): The Rajasthan Assembly witnessed dramatic scenes on Saturday as a proposed debate on the state government’s performance descended into chaos following a dispute over the agenda, resulting in the House being adjourned three times during the day.

The controversy arose after Parliamentary Affairs Minister Jogaram Patel moved a proposal to hold a debate on the BJP government’s two-year performance report.

Leader of the Opposition Tika Ram Jully strongly objected to the proposal, stating that the Business Advisory Committee (BAC) had earlier agreed to a broader debate comparing the BJP government’s two years in office with the Congress government’s five-year tenure.

Congress state president Govind Singh Dotasra also raised objections, referring to Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma’s earlier remarks in the Assembly, in which he had reportedly accepted the Opposition’s challenge for a “two years versus five years” debate.

“If the Chief Minister’s words are not respected, then what is the value of this House?” Dotasra said, alleging that the revised proposal deviated from the earlier understanding and undermined the Chief Minister’s commitment.

The disagreement soon escalated into heated exchanges between ruling party and Opposition members, leading to disruptions in the proceedings.

Congress MLAs entered the well of the House, raised slogans, and protested against the revised agenda, forcing the Speaker to adjourn the Assembly for 30 minutes. However, protests continued after the House reconvened, leading to further adjournments.

Even when BJP MLA Atul Bhansali was called upon to initiate the debate later in the evening, the Opposition members continued their protests, resulting in another adjournment of the House.

Speaking to reporters outside the Assembly, Jully accused the government of attempting to avoid accountability.

“The Chief Minister himself had agreed to a two years versus five years debate. Now the government wants to restrict the discussion only to its two-year report. This raises questions about transparency and accountability,” he said.

Jully added that such a debate would have enabled the people of Rajasthan to assess and compare the performance of both governments.

Meanwhile, MLAs of the Bharat Adivasi Party (BAP) also staged protests inside the Assembly, wearing T-shirts and displaying placards demanding a CBI probe into alleged paper leaks and recruitment irregularities.

They raised slogans during the proceedings, further intensifying the disruptions and contributing to repeated adjournments of the House.

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This report was published from a syndicated wire feed. Apart from the headline, the EdexLive Desk has not edited the copy.