Jaipur: In a dramatic turn of events, six Congress MLAs, including the state party chief Govind Singh Dotasra, spent the night inside the Rajasthan Assembly in Jaipur, protesting their suspension from the House. The suspension was a result of a heated debate that erupted on Friday over a remark made by BJP minister Avinash Gehlot, who referred to former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi as “aapki dadi” (your grandmother) during the Question Hour.
The controversy began when Minister Gehlot, responding to a query about hostels for working women, mentioned that the scheme was named after Indira Gandhi, using the term “dadi.” This remark was strongly objected to by Leader of Opposition Tika Ram Jully, who demanded that the comment be struck from the record. The objection led to sloganeering and Congress MLAs moving towards the Well of the House, prompting multiple adjournments of the Assembly.
Despite Parliamentary Affairs Minister Jogaram Patel’s defense that the term “dadi” was not unparliamentary, the situation escalated. Government Chief Whip Jogeshwar Garg criticized the opposition’s conduct, stating that their actions were “indecent and condemnable” and moved a proposal to suspend the six Congress MLAs for the remainder of the Budget session. The proposal was passed by a voice vote, and Speaker Vasudev Devnani adjourned the House until Monday.
The suspended MLAs, which also include Deputy Leader of Opposition Ramkesh Meena, Amin Kagzi, Zakir Hussain Gesawat, Hakeem Ali Khan, and Sanjay Kumar Jatav, decided to stage a sit-in protest inside the Assembly hall. They were seen resting on bedding arranged within the hall, highlighting their determination to stand against what they perceive as an attempt to silence the opposition.
Tika Ram Jully condemned the suspensions, accusing the BJP of adopting a dictatorial attitude. “Minister Shri Avinash Gehlot made indecent comments about respected leader Indira Gandhi ji, who sacrificed her life for the country, but our MLAs were suspended. This shows that the BJP only wants to work with a dictatorial attitude,” he wrote on X.
Senior Congress leader and former Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot also criticized the BJP government, suggesting that the suspensions were a tactic to divert attention from the government’s failures. “The government had no work to show in the last one year, so the Leader of Opposition was not allowed to give a speech highlighting its failures during the address. Now our state president and MLAs from Dalit, backward, tribal, and minority communities have been suspended from the Budget session,” he said.
In response to the developments, the Congress party has announced a statewide protest on Saturday against the remarks and the suspensions.
