The State Assembly on Wednesday passed 13 Bills, virtually without any discussion amid a walkout by the Congress-led Opposition, protesting against raising the time of the day’s sitting beyond 5 pm.
After the passage of the first supplementary Budget amounting to Rs 3,040 crore, the house discussed Madhya Pradesh Religious Freedom Amendment Bill moved by MP Home Minister Uma Shankar Gupta. Arif Aqueel, Ramniwas Rawat and Yadvendra Singh of Congress took part in the debate after which it was passed.
Since the scheduled time of 5 pm for the day’s sitting of the House was over by then, MP Assembly speaker Ishwardas Rohani took the House’s permission to extend the time for transacting the listed business of the day. However, Congress members opposed this and demanded that discussion of other bills should take place afterwards instead of raising the time of the House, but the Speaker moved ahead with the proposal after getting a nod from the majority of members.
Opposing the decision, the Congress staged a walkout from the House and amidst the din; the House passed 11 other bills by a voice vote, without any discussion at all.