The five-day monsoon session of Chhattisgarh State Assembly began here on Monday with the expected uproar over the issue of Maoist attack on Congress convoy at Jeeram Ghati on May 25.
This was for the first time that the tribute paying in the House to the martyred leaders and others at Jeeram Ghati was marred by interruptions from Opposition members. Two minutes silence was observed in memory of the deceased leaders and the Assembly was later adjourned till Tuesday.
Tributes were paid to former Pradesh Congress Committee President Nand Kumar Patel, former Union Minister VC Shukla, former Congress legislator Uday Mudliyar, former leader of Opposition and Salwa Judum Founder Mahendra Karma, former member of Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh (MP) assemblies lokendra Yadav, Deputy Minister in undivided Madhya Pradesh Anantram Verma and JPl Francis, Kapildev Narayan Singh both former members of Madhya Pradesh Assembly and former Deputy Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh Subhash Yadav. In addition, tributes were also paid to people who lost their lives in natural calamity at Kedarnath in Uttarakhand.
The CM, while expressing regret over Jeeram Ghati incident, said that it was the “saddest phase of his political career”. “Though the leaders who died in the Jeeram Ghati were from a different political party, we personally had very good relations,” he said.
“Whether it be ‘Parivartan Yatra’ of ‘Vikas Yatra’, Maoists were baffled to see huge public participation in these yatras and the assault by them is an attack on our country's Constitution,” Singh said.
Remembering Nand Kumar Patel, the Chief Minister said: “It is worthy to learn from his (Nand Kumar Patel’s) life how a person starting his career from being a Sarpanch of a village could reach such political heights.”
The Chief Minister also recalled memories of veteran Congress leader VC Shukla and said that he was in public life for about half a century and there was a time when Chhattisgarh was known with a reference to his name.
Singh further said that slain legislator Uday Mudliyar was a dedicated party worker and he always voiced ground issues related to Rajnandgaon and Chhattisgarh in the House.
leader of Opposition Ravindra Choubey said that this is the most difficult time for him in his long political career. “It is hard to believe that Nand Kumar Patel is not in the Assembly. For the past 25 years, we worked together. There was not a single day when we did not talk in these years,” Choubey said, adding that the place of Nand Kumar Patel cannot be filled ever.
Meanwhile, Congress legislator from lormi Dharamjeet Singh demanded release of White Paper by the State Government.
Former Chief Minister Ajit Jogi, sharing his memories, said that in 1988 Assembly polls while campaigning with senior leader Arjun Singh, when the latter asked about candidates for Kharasia region, 'I had suggested that there is a young good looking energetic Sarpanch who could be a good leader.'