Opposition walkout in LS over energy projects near Indo-Pak border
Projects close to the border with Pakistan will compromise security, argued Opposition members.
Amid ruckus and walkout by the opposition Congress members, the Rajasthan assembly passed three crucial bills within an hour on Wednesday.
Photo: Rajasthan Assembly_File Photo
Amid ruckus and walkout by the opposition Congress members, the Rajasthan assembly passed three crucial bills within an hour on Wednesday.
Altogether, five bills were on the agenda of the House on Wednesday. Of these, the GST Amendment Bill 2024—meant to replace—the GST Amendment Ordinance 2024, the Bikaner Development Authority Bill 2025, and the Bharatpur Development Authority Bill 2025 were passed by voice vote in the absence of Congress. The Appropriation Bill 2025-26 and the Rajasthan Finance Bill 2025-26 were also scheduled to be passed by the House later in the evening.
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The 66-member principal opposition group walked out of the House in protest against the hasty passage of the three bills without due debate. The party demanded that they be referred to the Select Committee of the House.
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From the onset, the opposition members were unhappy with the government’s “hasty” approach to legislative business. Their frustration grew further due to allegedly incomplete or unsatisfactory replies from ministers during the Question Hour.
In such an instance, Leader of the Opposition (LoP) Tika Ram Julie tried to intervene, seeking a due reply from Ground Water Minister Kanhaiya Lal Choudhary to his party colleague.
However, Speaker Vasudev Devnani did not allow him, stating, “The LoP shouldn’t rise every time to intervene. The ensuing verbal exchange between Devnani and the members of the Opposition benches led to an uproar.
LoP Julie said, “I am duty-bound to assist opposition members in obtaining the necessary information from ministers who fail to provide proper replies or come unprepared. The treasury benches try to prevent the opposition from expressing our views.”
Protesting the government’s attitude, the LoP announced a boycott of the Question Hour proceedings and walked out along with party colleagues.
Even during the Zero Hour, Julie and some other opposition members intermittently raised various matters. On one such occasion, the LoP’s mike was muted when he tried to raise the issue of the rape of a pregnant Dalit woman in front of her son in Sanganer, the Chief Minister’s constituency. His mike was also turned off on Tuesday as well while he was raising this issue.
Acrimonious scenes erupted again in the House on Wednesday as the Chair took up the legislative business for passage. Several opposition members, including LoP Julie and party member Hari Mohan Sharma, stood up to protest against the government’s “hasty” approach to passing key legislations without debate or discussion.
“As many as three bills are being passed hastily without due debate in the House. Each of these bills required a full day of debate and discussion, yet they are all being passed within an hour,” Julie said.
“You have a majority in the House, and you can do as you wish. However, this is not in the interest of the people of the state. You are not doing justice to them,” the LoP said.
His party colleague Hari Mohan Sharma said, “The Opposition’s voice is being throttled… This is a murder of democracy.”
Speaker Vasudev Devnani dismissed the opposition’s stance, stating, “This House has a record of passing as many as nine bills in a day.”
In response, LoP Julie stated, “We oppose the hasty passage of the Bills and demand that they be referred to the Select Committee of the House. Hence, we stage a walk out.”
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