Rajasthan MLA disrupts governor's address to House

Unruly scenes were witnessed in the Rajasthan Assembly Thursday, with Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLTP) chief Hanuman Beniwal disrupting the governor's address.

Beniwal along with his party MLAs stormed the well of the House and the RLTP chief also climbed on to a platform near the assembly secretary's chair and continued making remarks against Governor Kalyan Singh.

His behaviour invited sharp criticism from the opposition members who demanded action against him.

Beniwal raised the demand for procurement of moong beans when the House assembled at 11 am. Even as he continued raising the demand, the governor began his address.

Singh congratulated the newly elected MLAs and carried on with the address, but Parliamentary Affairs Minister Shanti Dhariwal requested him to table the speech.

The governor continued addressing the House for some more time, but he tabled the speech after reading a few lines.

After the house reassembled, Speaker C P Joshi condemned the behaviour of the MLAs and warned them of stern action.

He said that the matter raised by the MLAs may have significance but there are proper rules for raising the issues and the members of the House must follow them.

Objecting to the behaviour of Beniwal, Leader of Opposition Gulab Chand Kataria said the sanctity of the House was hurt and demanded action against him.

Kataria also said that if needed, the Opposition will not let the House run for even five years if strict action was not taken against such behaviour.

This led to a heated argument between Kataria and Beniwal. The RLTP chief along with BSP MLA Rajendra Gudha and a few others again stormed the well of the House.

On the other hand, a few BJP MLAs also rushed to the well of the House, shouting slogans.

After a brief protest, they returned to their seats after repeated requests by the Speaker.

BJP legislator Rajendra Rathore claimed that Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot was smiling during the protests in the assembly.

Reacting to which, Gehlot said he strongly condemns the behaviour of Beniwal.

The Speaker then intervened in the matter and asked to start a fresh.

"Let us forget the past and start afresh," he said, while taking up the listed business.

Cooperative Minister Udai Lal Anjana tabled the Rajasthan cooperative society (amendment) ordinance 2018.

The Speaker then made obituary remarks and the House paid tribute to former Rajasthan governor Madan Lal Khurana, former Andhra Pradesh governor ND Tiwari, former MPs Kunji lal Meena and Ram kumar Meena, former MLAs Jagannath Verma, Ramakant Sharma, Ghasilal Chaupra, Ranjit Singh Rathore and Mukut Bihari Lal Goyal.