The ruling BJP in Gujarat has demanded action against two Congress MLAs who took off their shirts outside the entrance gate of the state assembly on Friday as part of a protest against inadequate power supply to farmers. Claiming that the BJP government had failed to provide adequate power to the farmers, at least 15 Congress MLAs protested for about 10 minutes at the main entrance of the assembly building, during which MLAs Subimal Chudasama and Lalit Vasoya took off their shirts.
The Treasury bench raised an objection in the Assembly after the question and answer session, after which Speaker Nimaben Acharya said he would give his verdict the next day after watching the video clips of the incident which took place before the House meeting at 10 am. Speaking to reporters, Chudasama said, “Although the BJP government claims that farmers are getting enough electricity, it is a fact that most of the farmers in Gujarat are not getting enough electricity for irrigation purposes. We are protesting here to draw attention. ” After the question-and-answer session, Chief Whip Pankaj Desai raised an objection to the “shirtless” protest of Chudasama and Vasoya, claiming that no such protest was allowed as per the rules around the assembly.
Desai called on the speaker to take necessary action and reprimand the opposition for such protests. Supporting Desai’s demand, Education Minister Jitu Bhaghani said that Congress MLAs should have refrained from removing their uniforms in front of female police personnel, MLAs and government officials entering the complex from that gate.
In their defense, Congress MLA Amit Chavda claimed that the BJP had in the past used the assembly complex for its own political purposes. “Congress legislators protested because farmers were not getting electricity for farming. The assembly complex was used by the ruling BJP for their political purposes in the past. Election-related speeches were also given after the people gathered at the complex,” Chavda said. .
BJP MLA Pradeep Singh Jadeja vehemently objected to the Congress protests, saying that if action was not taken against these MLAs now, “they will hold similar protests inside the House in the future”.
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