MP Assembly appears to have different set of rules for AICC general secretary Digvijay Singh and State Congress president Arun Yadav.
Yadav was on Tuesday permitted to address a Press conference on the Assembly premises inspite of being a ‘non-member’ of the House,- a ground which was denied to Singh in 2015.
Addressing mediapersons on the Assembly premises, Yadav alleged that during past 13 years the BJP-led State Government had been involved in 156 scams.
Meanwhile, Principal Secretary of the State Assembly AP Singh told The Pioneer that acting leader of Opposition Bala Bachchan had sought permission in writing regarding the Press conference in the Assembly premises. “He did mention that PCC chief Arun Yadav would accompany him,” Singh added.
However, factually, Bachchan addressed the media hardly a couple of minutes, while Arun Yadav spoke at length and he was the only person who replied to the queries of mediapersons.
The Principal Secretary said he was not aware whether only Yadav addressed the media. In fact, the permission was granted to Bachchan’s Press conference, he added.
Notably, on March 24, 2015, then Principal Secretary Bhagwandev Israni had stopped Congress leader Digvijay Singh from holding a Press conference in the media room, by issuing an order. The order stated that no outsider would be allowed to hold a Press meet in the Assembly complex. “Except Minister or a member of the House, no outsiders will be allowed to address press meet inside the Assembly,” the order stated.
Surprisingly, the orders in this regard were issued on the same day, when Digvijay Singh after watching the proceedings of the House from the Speaker’s Gallery, planned to hold a Press meet on the MPPEB scam.