The Opposition BJP on Friday boycotted the customary address of Governor Kalraj Mishra in the Rajasthan Assembly on the first day of its session, which is set to be extended for presentation of the State budget. The BJP members accused the Congress government of flouting the rules for convening the session.
The session was called mainly to pass a resolution against the implementation of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.
The Assembly will also ratify the Constitution (126th) Amendment Bill passed by Parliament last month for extending the reservation for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies by another 10 years.
As soon as the House assembled and Mr. Mishra started delivering his address, Leader of the Opposition Gulab Chand Kataria raised objection over the session having been called without a prior notice of 21 days. He said the session had been “hurriedly convened” to meet the deadline for ratification of the Amendment Bill by January 25.
‘Lack of prompt action’
Interrupting the Governor’s speech, Mr. Kataria said the State government wanted to save itself from embarrassment over the lack of prompt action after the Bill was passed by the Rajya Sabha on December 12, 2019. “The government woke up suddenly and decided to call the session without giving sufficient time to the members to make preparations,” he said.
The BJP MLAs raised slogans and staged a walkout, as Mr. Mishra, unfazed by the disorder, continued to deliver his speech. Mr. Mishra highlighted the steps being taken by the State government to redress people’s grievances, promote industrial development, control the crime rate and strengthen the agriculture sector by extending the benefits of various schemes to the farmers.
The resolution against implementation of the CAA will be introduced and debated in the House on Saturday. The Cabinet was giving a final shape to the resolution, according to sources in the Chief Minister's Office.
Locusts in Assembly
BJP MLA from Nokha Bihari Lal carried a basket full of locusts inside the Assembly building with the demand for expediting the distribution of compensation to the farmers whose crops were damaged on a large scale in the recent locust attacks in 11 districts.
Mr. Lal said said the State government had not paid adequate attention to the issue despite the farmers having suffered huge losses.
