The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday boycotted Chhattisgarh Food and Civil Supplies Minister Amarjeet Bhagat for not replying to supplementary questions raised in the Assembly.
The Minister expressed regret over the comment on former Chief Minister Raman Singh.
Raman Singh sought district-wise details of lifting of paddy from procurement centres for 2020-21. How much is pending after the auction of paddy at the centres.
He said due to the flawed policy of the state government, 564 tonnes of paddy is still to be lifted even after the procurement had commenced.
The stored paddy has been damaged by rains and it is a national loss. He asked the Minister to explain details of policy sections 2.7 and 2.8. The Minister diverted the answer which led to chaos.
As the Minister failed to provide details, Raman Singh said the section states that it is mandatory to lift cent percent stored paddy at storage centres by March 31. The government had not implemented it, incurring a loss of Rs 900 crores.
He added that the state government also failed to deposit the Central pool quota in Kharif last year.
The Minister's comment led opposition members to enter the well of the House demanding an apology from him. The Speaker left it to the Minister to diffuse the situation, who expressed his regret.
As opposition members entered the well, they were suspended. BJP's Ajay Chandrakar and other members announced that they will not seek any reply to queries raised by them during Question Hour.
When the Speaker called the names of Leader of Opposition Dharamlal Kaushik, Shiv Ratan Sharma, Ranjana Dipendra Sahu and Chandrakar, they did not respond.