Governor’s address opens Madhya Pradesh Assembly Budget Session amid Opposition uproar

The budget session of the Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly began on Monday with the Governor’s address to the House, which witnessed repeated interruptions and noisy protests by opposition Indian National Congress MLAs.

In his address, Madhya Pradesh Governor Mangubhai Patel highlighted the achievements of the Dr Mohan Yadav-led Bharatiya Janata Party state government and outlined its future plans to make the state developed.

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He informed that the state government had designated this year as the Year of Industry and Employment. Patel said the government organised the Global Investors’ Summit and several regional industry summits, receiving remarkable success in the form of investment proposals and the signing of MoUs.

He also provided details regarding the government’s achievements in the River Linking Project and the work being carried out in tribal areas.

However, the main opposition Congress created pandemonium during the Governor’s address.

“The pages of the speech that include points on clean potable water have not been read,” Leader of Opposition Umang Singhar alleged.

Other Congress members supported him. Sohanlal Valmiki charged that the microphones of Congress members were switched off.

Notwithstanding the disruptions, after the address, Speaker Narendra Singh Tomar set 17 February as the date for discussion on the Motion of Thanks to the Governor’s speech. The motion was presented by senior member Ajay Vishnoi and supported by member Archana Chitnis, both senior MLAs and former cabinet ministers of the BJP government.

This session is scheduled to comprise a dozen sittings and conclude on 6 March.

Finance Minister and Deputy Chief Minister Jagdish Devda will present the state Budget on 18 February.

The Congress is likely to create further disruptions and corner the BJP government throughout the session over several serious issues.

These include fatalities caused by contaminated drinking water in Indore, the deaths of children in Chhindwara due to the consumption of poisonous cough syrup, and the opposition’s continuing demand for the dismissal of three ministers.

These include Urban Administration Minister Kailash Vijayvargiya over the Indore drinking water deaths, Health Minister and Deputy Chief Minister Rajendra Shukla over the cough syrup deaths, and Tribal Welfare Minister Vijay Shah over an FIR filed against him for alleged derogatory remarks against an Indian Army Colonel in connection with ‘Operation Sindoor’.