Congress MLAs create uproar in Rajasthan Assembly over dissolution of new districts

Jaipur, Feb 5 (PTI): Opposition Congress MLAs created uproar in the Rajasthan Assembly on Wednesday over the state government’s dissolution of new districts. Due to the pandemonium, the House proceedings were adjourned for 15 minutes.

Assembly Speaker Vasudev Devnani later ruled that the two MLAs who made the adjournment motion on this issue would be allowed to speak for two minutes each on Thursday. He added that the government would give a brief statement on this matter.

During Zero Hour, the Speaker said Congress MLA Suresh Modi and 30 other members had given adjournment motions regarding the situation arising out of the dissolution of three newly formed divisions and nine districts of the state. He said MLAs Suresh Modi and Ramkesh, also a Congress legislator, would be allowed to speak for two minutes each on the subject matter of their motion.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Jogaram Patel said the dissolution of districts and divisions case is pending in the high court and there has been a tradition of not discussing any issue pending in the court in the Assembly. He requested the Chair not to discuss the adjournment motion.

Leader of Opposition Tikaram Jully objected to this and said the matter of only two districts is in the court. “We will not mention the two districts here. There should be no problem in discussing the rest of the districts,” he said.

The Speaker decided not to discuss the issue on Wednesday. The opposition expressed displeasure and created uproar. Amidst the din, the Speaker adjourned the proceedings for 15 minutes. The uproar continued even after the House resumed the proceedings.

After the lunch break, Speaker Devnani ruled, “The two members whose names were announced today to speak on this adjournment motion will be allowed to express their views on Thursday. At the same time, a minister will answer on behalf of the government.”

Later, House proceedings continued.

The previous Gehlot government had issued a notification to create 17 new districts and three new divisions. Besides, three new districts were announced but its notification was not issued.

The present BJP government led by Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma decided in December to dissolve the nine districts and three new divisions formed by the Gehlot government. However, eight new districts have been retained.