The Opposition BJP members on Tuesday staged a demonstration in the well of the Rajasthan Assembly after Speaker C.P. Joshi rejected two adjournment motions seeking a debate on the phone tapping of some political leaders, which was admitted by the State government in reply to a question asked by an MLA.
The House was adjourned four times amid the ruckus.
‘Breach of privacy’
The adjournment motions, moved by Deputy Leader of the Opposition Rajendra Rathore and BJP MLA Kalicharan Saraf during the Zero Hour, referred to the “breach of privacy” caused by the phone tapping of elected public representatives, MLAs, MPs and Union Ministers. The two members sought a debate on the subject in view of “seriousness of the matter”.
The BJP had on Monday demanded the resignation of Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on moral grounds, while alleging that he had told a lie and misled the Assembly on the issue. The State government had said that it had tapped the phones in the interest of public safety and order.
Separately, Mr. Gehlot said in a Facebook post that no illegal surveillance of phone conversations was done by the State government and he had already clarified it in the Assembly on August 14, 2020. “The way the BJP is disturbing the Assembly proceedings shows that it is a fight for dominance. This is their internal tussle...”
‘No names given’
While the BJP sought to link the government’s reply with the political crisis in the State in July last year, the Speaker rejected the adjournment motions on the ground that they did not provide names and specific details on whose privacy had been breached.
Mr. Joshi added that the Speaker’s ruling could not be challenged.
When he did not allow the BJP MLAs to speak, they created an uproar and trooped into the well of the House.
Leader of the Opposition Gulab Chand Kataria said the adjournment motions had some substance because the ruling party’s chief whip had lodged FIRs on the basis of recordings of telephone conversations, after which some persons were arrested.
BJP MLA Madan Dilawar was suspended from the Assembly for seven days.
