Bhopal: The first session of the newly constituted Madhya Pradesh Vidhan Sabha ended on a bitter note. The first four day session was marked by stormy scenes, angry exchanges and series of walkout by the opposition.
Election of Speaker and Deputy Speaker was held in the midst of slogan shouting by the BJP members. While Speaker was elected on January 9 Deputy Speaker was elected on January 10. It is for the first time that a female member was elected Deputy Speaker. Newly elected Speaker conducted election of Deputy Speaker. Both Congress and BJP sponsored their candidates for Deputy Speakership. So far traditionally the post of Deputy Speaker was given to the opposition party. But this time this tradition was broken and the Congress blamed BJP for this. BJP proposal for candidature of Jagdeesh Dera was mentioned but not accepted as the rule that was cited by Congress during the Speaker’s election came into play. BJP did not walk out this time, but kept shouting slogans. Amid noisy protests by Opposition BJP and after repeated adjournments, two-time MLA from Lanji assembly seat Heena Likhiram Kavre was elected Deputy Speaker. “We are unhappy that tradition has been broken but BJP started it,” Chief Minister Kamal nath told reporters outside the House.
Allegations flow thick and fast
“The BJP has been continuously trying to entice our MLAs and it is they who have broken the tradition” Nath alleged “BJP filled nomination for Speaker with the intention of fragmentation. Proving our majority- that we had the numbers – became priority for us. When BJP broke tradition, we replied in their language. Thereafter, we decided to hold elections for deputy Speaker”.
Since 1990, it was the convention that ruling party appointed the Speaker while Opposition got the deputy’s post. With 109 MLAs BJP this time wanted to show its strength in the House and asked for an election for Speaker. They wanted to propose former Minister and tribal face Vijay Shah on Monday, it wasn’t taken up as the first proposal – for Congres’s N. P. Prajapati – didn’t fall through. On Wednesday after Heena filed nomination for Deputy Speaker, BJP got SC member and former minister Jagdish Dewra to file papers to take it to a contest.
BJP leaders accused the Speaker of being unfair and demanded his resignation. “We are reaching New Delhi on January 10 and have sought an appointment with the President. We will apprise him of the situation and how Congress elected the Speaker and Deputy Speaker undemocratically, violating the norms in the House. We seek the intervention of the President and are also contemplating moving a no-confidence motion against the Congress government” said BJP leader Bhupendra Singh. Party MLAs and senior leaders are going to Delhi for the two-day national executive meet on January 11 and 12 he said.
Leader of Opposition (LoP) Gopal Bhargava said it was the responsibility of ruling party to conduct House proceedings in a cordial atmosphere. “But Congress government adopted a rigid stand on the very first day which continued al through the session. Congress is afraid of losing the floor test hence did not allow voting in the house” said Bharava. BJP had demanded secret ballot in the election of both chairs to the assembly but the voice vote was allowed.
CM Kamal Nath rejected allegations that the elections of Speaker and Deputy Speaker were unfair and said BJP was welcome to approach legal experts and the higher authorities “But the reality is that the party lost majority support in the floor test in the house and Congress successfully passed it twice. BJP has been losing the ground since the assembly elections and knowing the fact that the party cannot stand a floor test in the House, it deviated from tradition. Now, talking about tradition will not serve any purpose” Nath told reporters at the assembly.
Speaker N P Prajapati said every decision taken in the House is based on rules. “BJP is trying to divert attention of the House by raising slogans and entering into the well,” he said.
Meanwhile after senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh, Chief Minister Kamal Nath also asserted that “BJP is involved in horse-trading. He claimed that he possesses conclusive evidence to substantiate charge of horse trading.
BJP has been snipping at the chair in the assembly and Congress triggering a strong counter attack by the CM himself. “BJP leaders, beware! There are more revelations to come in several matters and this is a trailer. The acts of BJP leaders during the past 15 years will be uncovered soon.
“The saffron party was involved in horse trading ahead of election of Speaker. We asked them to follow tradition but their attitude was not supportive. After an insulting debacle, they still consider themselves to be ruling the state and we were repeatedly told that we are a minority government” Nath said in Vidhan Sabha on Thursday.
While Congress and BJP were engaged in hot war there was a cheerful news for former Chief Minister Shiv Raj Singh Chouhan. According to this news Chouhan has been promoted to the post of National Vice President of the BJP. This development makes it clear that party’s national leadership has decided to assign him new responsibility away from his home state.
“I express my gratitude towards PM Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah for assigning me an important responsibility of the world’s largest organisaition, BJP. I will fulfil the responsibility with dedication and continue to serve the nation” tweeted Chouhan.
