Congress to picket Rajasthan assembly over 6 MLA suspensions, deadlock continues

Jaipur: The Congress has decided to stage a protest and picket the state assembly on Monday, with preparations already underway following a state Congress committee meeting on Sunday.

This comes amid the ongoing political crisis in Rajasthan, which remains unresolved with the suspension of six Congress legislators, including state Congress president Govind Singh Dotasra. On Saturday, Congress held protests and burned effigies at district headquarters across the state to oppose the suspension of the legislators.

Parliamentary affairs minister Jogaram Patel said, “We have spoken to our counterparts in the opposition. We want the assembly to function. We urge Congress to abandon its stubbornness and acknowledge their mistake.”

The Congress lawmakers on Friday stormed to the well of the House and raised slogans, demanding an apology from social justice and empowerment minister Avinash Gehlot over his remark — ”In the 2023-24 budget, like always, you named the scheme (on working women’s hostels) after your ‘dadi’ (grandmother) Indira Gandhi” — during the Question Hour. The remark led to three adjournments.

Also Read: 6 Congress MLAs suspended from Rajasthan assembly amid row over minister’s ‘dadi’ remark

Government chief whip Jogeshwar Garg moved a proposal to suspend Congress lawmakers Govind Singh Dotasara, Ramkesh Meena, Amin Kagzi, Jakir Hussain, Hakam Ali, and Sanjay Kumar, which was passed by voice vote.

With a control room set up by the state Congress committee and calls being made to all districts, the Opposition has called on party members to mobilise across various districts. Special targets have also been set for districts around Jaipur to bring in larger crowds.

Meanwhile, the dharna (sit-in) by opposition legislators in the assembly continued for the third day on Sunday, as talks with ministers in two rounds failed to resolve the issue.

“There has been no fault on the opposition’s side; it was the minister who was at fault. The Speaker didn’t listen to us properly, and when Congress chief Govind Singh Dotasara climbed the dais to get the statement expunged, six MLAs were suspended,” Opposition whip Rafiq Khan said, adding that during Question Hour, the ministers don’t respond properly and try to mislead.

The Congress legislators have demanded the reinstatement of their suspension, the removal of comments about Indira Gandhi from the House proceedings, and an apology from Gehlot.

“This is not good in a parliamentary democracy. The fight here is ideological, but the ruling party is full of stubbornness and arrogance and is only pretending to make efforts to end the deadlock. We are demanding that first the minister’s statement be expunged, he should apologize, and the suspension should be revoked. Only then can talks move forward,” Khan said.

“The government itself does not want to run the House because if the House functions, there will be a discussion on the state budget, and since there was nothing in the budget, opposition MLAs will expose it. Fearing this, the government deliberately wants to maintain the stalemate,” Khan added.

Rajasthan home minister Jawahar Singh Bedham said talks were held with Congress lawmakers the previous night and he has urged them to end their dharna.