The Rajasthan Assembly witnessed pandemonium on Friday after the Opposition Congress MLAs, wearing black bands, demanded Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma’s resignation over a phone tapping issue. Agriculture Minister Kirodi Lal Meena, who has since resigned, has alleged that he is under the government’s surveillance.
As soon as the Assembly’s proceedings began, Leader of the Opposition Tika Ram Jully raised the issue, saying the phone of a Cabinet Minister was being tapped and the Minister had accused the government agencies of spying on him for raising concerns about corruption in the system. “The Chief Minister should resign in this situation,” he said.
The Congress members trooped into the well of the House and raised slogans, prompting the treasury members to shout back on them. While Speaker Vasudev Devnani asked the MLAs to let the Question Hour continue, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Jogaram Patel, pointing towards the Congress MLAs, said it was a “group of thieves”.
Mr. Meena accused the State government of spying on him by tapping his telephone conversations at a public event at Amagarh temple near Jaipur on Thursday. The maverick leader’s resignation from the State Cabinet in June 2024 after the BJP’s losses at some seats in the Lok Sabha election is yet to be accepted.
Mr. Meena said he was being targeted for raising the issue of corruption and criticising the BJP government for not taking action in the graft cases. “I got 50 trainee sub-inspectors arrested and raised the demand to cancel the 2021 recruitment exam because of paper leak. Instead of paying heed, this government is acting like the [previous] Congress regime and has sent CID sleuths to keep a watch on me,” he said.
After the proceedings were adjourned amid the uproar, the Congress MLAs came out of the House and raised slogans on the stairs of the Assembly building. Pradesh Congress Committee president Govind Singh Dotasra told journalists that nothing remained to be proved after the serious allegation levelled by Mr. Meena.
“Either the Chief Minister should clarify these allegations in the House and get them investigated or remove the Minister from his post,” Mr. Dotasra said, adding that the Assembly would not be allowed to function. The sloganeering continued even after the House reassembled and CM Mr. Sharma started giving reply on behalf of the State government to the Governor’s address on the first day of the budget session.
The debate on the motion of thanks to the Governor’s address concluded after Mr. Sharma’s two-hour-long reply amid the continuing din in the House. The Speaker announced the motion as having been passed an adjourned the Assembly till February 19, when Deputy CM Diya Kumari, who holds the Finance portfolio, will present the State Budget.
Separately, senior Congress leader and former Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said the allegations of phone tapping by a Cabinet Minister had exposed the ruling BJP. “The charge has been made not by any Opposition leader for political gains, but by a Minister of the government. The truth behind this should come out,” Mr. Gehlot said in a post on X.
Published - February 08, 2025 01:13 am IST
