The budget presented yesterday was passed without any discussion amid bedlam created by the treasury benches, which strongly condemned opposition Congress' behaviour of repeatedly disrupting the House over the MPPEB scam since its commencement on February 18.
After repeated adjournments of the House, Speaker Dr Sitasharan Sharma adjourned the House sine die, sparking a blame game between the ruling BJP and Congress.
Also Read
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Narottam Mishra blamed the Opposition for the situation, saying they were misusing the forum of the state Assembly to malign Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan in connection with the MPPEB scam.
"The opposition was indulging in 'character assassination' of Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan," he alleged.
Mishra told reporters in the Assembly premises that it was not for the first time that guillotine had been applied to pass the budget.
Earlier also it had been done on 20.4.78, 4.4.83 and 21.3.2001, he said.
On the other hand, Congress member Ramniwas Rawat termed it as "black day" in the history of MP Assembly.
"Never in the past had the ruling party guillotined the budget in such a brutal and ruthless manner. It was totally undemocratic. They could not defend themselves in the Assembly and that is why they indulged in such undemocratic act to end the House under a strategy," Rawat alleged.
As the House assembled today, the Speaker took up the listed business by beginning with the Question Hour.
But, the Parliamentary Affairs Minister raised the issue of the opposition's alleged irresponsible behaviour over the MPPEB scam.
Mishra urged the Speaker to allow him to table the Censure Motion against Congress members who had created ruckus in the House by showing disrespect to the Governor and had later boycotted his customary address.
He said that they did not even allow Chouhan, the Leader of the House, to reply to the motion of thanks to the Governor's address.The Speaker then asked Mishra to wait till the completion of the Question at 11.30 AM. But, the ruling party members created uproar condemning the opposition's behaviour.
Congress members too objected to Mishra's intervention, leading to a heated exchange of words between them following which the Speaker adjourned the House for 15 minutes.
When the House re-assembled, the situation remained unchanged following which the Speaker again adjourned the House till 11.30 AM.
Post the adjournment when the House took the listed business, Mishra tabled the Censure Motion to which the Congress members objected. Amid the din, Forest Minister Gaurishanker Shejwar also seconded it and it was passed by voice vote.
Congress member Ramniwas Rawat could not reply to the Censure Motion following disruptions.
Later, the Congress members trooped into the well of the House and squatted there.
Amid the din, the Assembly passed the budget and Appropriation Bill by voice vote without any discussion following which the Speaker adjourned the House sine-die.
To a question, Mishra said there was no pre-planned strategy to create uproar in the House and to get it adjourned sine die. He outrightly rejected that today's sequence of events were orchestrated at the CM's house last night.
Condemning the Speaker, former Leader of Opposition Ajay Singh alleged that Dr Sharma was behaving in a manner as if he was a member of the ruling party.