The Congress condemned the suspension of Opposition MPs from Parliament while raising the issue on the first day of the Rajasthan Assembly, which convened here on Wednesday for the swearing-in of the newly elected MLAs. As many as 190 of the 199 legislators took oath on the first day of the two-day session.
Pradesh Congress Committee president and Lachhmangarh MLA Govind Singh Dotasra flayed the suspension of Opposition MPs after he completed his oath of office. Mr. Dotasra said the move amounted to the “murder of democracy” and the Congress would continue to protest against it.
Pro tem Speaker Kalicharan Saraf tried to stop Mr. Dotasra from making the remarks from the desk of oath-taking. The ruling BJP MLAs also objected to Mr. Dotasra’s comments, after which Mr. Saraf ruled that no legislator would speak anything other than the prescribed text of the oath of office.
All the Congress MLAs, including Mr. Dotasra, former Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and former Deputy CM Sachin Pilot, came to the Assembly wearing black bands on their arms in protest against the suspension of MPs.
Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma was the first to take the oath and was followed by Deputy CMs Diya Kumari and Prem Chand Bairwa. Sixteen MLAs took the oath in Sanskrit, while the pro-tem Speaker refused to allow Kolayat MLA Anshuman Singh Bhati to take the oath in Rajasthani, citing the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution which does not include the language.
