The Chhattisgarh Assembly continued to witness uproarious scenes on Tuesday over the Jeeram valley massacre issue even as Speaker Dharamlal Kaushik suspended all the Congress members for entering the well of the House while shouting slogans demanding resignation of Chief Minister Raman Singh.
As soon as the House sat for the day’s business, Congress members in black clothes started raising slogans while blaming the ruling BJP Government for the attack by Maoists on the Congress convoy at Jeeram valley besides repeatedly demanding the resignation of Chief Minister Raman Singh.
leader of Oppostition Ravindra Choubey stated that the Opposition had not used any unparliamentary language on the first day of the House proceedings. Despite this, why the conversation of the members had been expunged from the record. ‘This is contrary to the democratic traditions’, he stated. The Congress members refused to sit down and
participate in the debate on the request made by the Speaker
so that the daily business could be conducted without any interruptions. Amid noisy scenes, Congress member Mohammed Akbar got up and demanded from the Speaker as to why the conversations by the Opposition members in the House were expunged from the records on the first day of the House. ‘This is violation of our right to express views. This is our duty to expose the shortcomings of the Government as an Opposition,’ he said. Referring to the Jeeram valley incident on May 25, Akbar stated: ‘ Four hours had passed since the attack at Jeeram valley and nobody reached the spot’.
To this, the Speaker stated : ‘ If you (Congress members ) are participating in the proceedings, then I will provide the order for a debate on the issue’. Reacting to this, Akbar remarked : ‘If we are present in the House it means we are participating in the proceedings. Even if we disagree over issues, it does not mean we are not participating in the debate in the House’.
On the other hand, BJP member and Minister Brijmohan Agarwal commented that wearing black clothes by Opposition members is an insult to the House traditions. To this, Congress member Mohammed Akbar remarked: ‘Please tell us where in the House rule book it is written that wearing black clothes is an insult to the House. later, while Congress members continued to raise slogans, the Speaker adjourned the House at 11.09 at 15 minutes. When the House assembled again at 11.25 am, the Speaker told the Congress members that disrupting the House proceedings means not participating in the House. ‘If you just stand and create an uproar, it is not in any rule’.
While Congress members continued to shout slogans , the Speaker took up normal proceedings of the House and carried out the day’s business by taking up questions as per the day’s agenda.
BJP member Devji Bhai Patel raised the issue of illegal plotting activity in the villages surrounding Raipur with Revenue Minister in the House. The Assembly passed a total of eight bills and a supplementary budget amid din in the House. Several key bills that were passed on tuesday were the Food Security Amendment Bill 2013, Chhattisgarh Educational Institutions (Management) Bill 2013, Chhattisgarh Co-operative Societies (Amendment Bill) 2013, India Stamp (Chhattisgarh Amendment) Bill 2013 among others.
While the bills were being passed by ruling party members in the House , Congress members stood in the well of the House and continued demanding resignation of the Chief Minister and dismissal of the Government.
Finally , the Speaker suspended the day’s proceedings during the noon hours. After ruling party members had moved out of the House, the Opposition members squatted in the well of the House and moved out only after BJP member Brijmohan Agarwal requested them to get up and come out of the House.