Assembly admits privilege motion against Congress MLA Karan Dalal
FACE OFF BJP brought the motion against Dalal in the wake of his charges of corruption in PM’s crop insurance scheme; Congress stages walkout, saying the government was trying to stifle its voice
CHANDIGARH: The ruling BJP on Tuesday brought a privilege motion against Congress MLA Karan Dalal for his “false allegations” of corruption in the Prime Minister’s crop insurance scheme even as the Congress MLAs staged a walkout to protest the move.
It is for the first time that the BJP has brought such a motion against an opposition MLA since it came to power about two years ago.
Dalal had levelled the said allegations on Monday following which speaker Kanwar Pal had sought his reply and reserved his decision on the issue for Tuesday.
The privilege motion against Dalal was moved by BJP MLA Gian Chand Gupta after the question hour and the issue was instantly lapped up by the treasury benches who demanded the motion be passed.
Education minister Ram Bilas Sharma said it was unfortunate that Dalal made such false allegations.
Dalal maintained that he had not levelled any charges against the BJP government, but had made a general statement since insurance companies always gave commission to the facilitator.
However, almost all the BJP MLAs, led by finance minister Capt Abhimanyu, stood up demanding that Monday’s audio recording be played so that Dalal’s exact words be heard by the House.
When Dalal denied having made the accusation against the BJP government, health minister Anil Vij sent the House in splits when he said that Dalal was suffering from memory loss.
The din continued further as leader of Opposition Abhay Chautala, along with several INLD MLAs, also started demanding audio-play which, they held, would make it amply clear who said what in that episode. They, thus, wanted to take on Vij who had indulged in verbal spat with Dalal on Monday, though Vij had withdrawn his words.
Though Dalal, supported by other Congress MLAs, including Raghubir Kadian, tried to explain that the remarks were being misinterpreted, the treasury benches stuck to their demand.
The ruckus prevailed for long and chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar suggested that instead of stretching the matter unnecessarily, Monday’s audio be played to bring clarity on the issue.
All the BJP MLAs then stood up and sought to know if Dalal’s remarks pertaining to corruption in crop insurance had a link with the previous Congress regime.
Meanwhile, the speaker read out the remarks made by Dalal and said that even the reply submitted by Dalal on Monday was misguiding and lowered the dignity of the House. This made all the BJP MLAs press again for the privilege motion against Dalal which was instantly passed to be taken up on the day one of the next session.
In protest, Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Kiran Choudhry led the walkout by her party MLAs, saying the government was stifling their voice and democracy.