The row began in the House on Thursday evening when the Chair called the name of Shravan Kumar (Congress) to speak. However, within minutes, he was asked to stop speaking on the directions of Speaker Vasudev Devnani.
File Photo: ANI
The Opposition Indian National Congress, expressing annoyance over the ruling of the Chair in stopping a member from speaking in the House, boycotted the remaining proceedings of the day amid the debate on budget demands of the Rural Development and Panchayati Raj departments.
The row began in the House on Thursday evening when the Chair called the name of Shravan Kumar (Congress) to speak. However, within minutes, he was asked to stop speaking on the directions of Speaker Vasudev Devnani.
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This led to pandemonium in the House, as several members, including Leader of Opposition Tika Ram Jully, Govind Singh Dotasra, and Shravan Kumar himself, rose to speak simultaneously.
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Jully and Dotasra said, “The Speaker should not have stopped the member after he was allowed to speak by the Chair.”
Shravan Kumar said, “This has hurt my self-esteem. I am a six-time MLA.” Many Opposition members supported his stance, while members from the Treasury Benches, including Parliamentary Affairs Minister Joga Ram Patel, urged them not to challenge the Speaker’s ruling.
However, the Opposition did not relent and walked out of the House, announcing a boycott of the proceedings.
Later, LoP Jully said, “I have convened a meeting of the Congress Legislative Party (CLP) on Friday morning to discuss the issue and decide our strategy.”
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Patel also clarified before the media that the issue had figured earlier in the day during the Business Advisory Committee (BAC) meeting, where Shravan Kumar and the LoP had requested that Kumar be allowed to speak. The Speaker maintained that since he had already given his ruling, Kumar should not speak against it that day and would be given an opportunity later.
Despite this, while forwarding the list of party speakers, Congress whip Rafik Khan included Kumar’s name, and the presiding officer called him to speak on that basis, Patel said, adding that this led to the disruption.
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