Furore over MPPEB scam brings Madhya Pradesh budget session to abrupt end

There was no FIR against Yadav when the session began but was filed on February 24 when the house was debating a motion of thanks to the Governor’s address. When Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan rose to reply to the debate around 4.30 pm on Tuesday, the Opposition MLAs insisted that the government make a statement on the floor of the house about the FIR against the Governor.

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When the Opposition MLAs did not let Chouhan complete his speech, the speaker had adjourned the day’s proceedings till Wednesday when the annual budget was presented. There were no disruptions on Wednesday as Finance Minster Jayant Malaiya presented his Rs 1.31 lakh crore budget.

When proceedings began on Thursday, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Narottam Mishra wanted to move a censure motion against Opposition MLAs. The motion was eventually tabled and passed by voice vote. Immediately after that Mishra requested the speaker to transact the remaining business, including passage of the budget and a couple of bills.

A stunned Opposition watched as the treasury benches continued to shout slogans against Congress legislators. When the Congress legislators had not allowed Chouhan to complete his speech on Tuesday, Mishra had warned that the treasury benches won’t let the Opposition MLAs to speak because they had not allowed the leader of the House to speak in the house.

While the Opposition declared the abrupt end as a black day for democracy, Mishra later told reporters that the Congress should take the blame for it. The minister called it “dirty politics” referring to the demand made by Opposition inside and outside Assembly for Chouhan’s resignation after AICC general secretary Digvijaya Singh accused him of tampering with evidence to clear his and his family members’ names.