Raipur(Chhattisgarh): In an unprecedented turn of events, members of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the Chhattisgarh assembly on Wednesday slammed the Congress government over a protest by a group of nude men in the capital Raipur. They demanded the resignation of Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, saying the incident has brought disrepute to the state.
BJP MLAs created uproar on the issue in the House leading to the adjournment of proceedings for five minutes. The opposition legislators were also briefly suspended after they trooped into the well, sloganeering against the government and demanding the release of the arrested nude protesters.
The nude protest, which has sparked outrage and drawn national attention, on Tuesday demanded action against people who allegedly got government jobs using fake caste certificates. The police arrested 29 protesters as they marched towards the state legislative assembly. Raising the issue during the Zero Hour, when members can raise Issues of urgent public importance, Leader of Opposition Narayan Chandel and many opposition members called the nude protest has brought infamy to the state in the country as well as abroad.
BJP's Ajay Chandrakar, Shivratan Sharma and Brijmohan Agrawal and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) members Indu Banjare and Keshav Chandra were among those who raised the issue. They said the protesters had been seeking action for a long time but the state government did not pay heed to their demands which compelled them to stage a demonstration without clothes, the BJP members said.
Instead of taking action against people holding caste certificates, the state government jailed the protesters who were fighting for their rights, they said, demanding discussion on the issue by moving an adjournment motion notice. The BJP demanded that a high-powered committee be formed to look into the issue of getting jobs based on bogus certificates. Some treasury bench members countered the opposition members, claiming that people with fake caste certificates were appointed during the previous BJP government.
Amid pandemonium, the chair adjourned the proceeding for five minutes. After the proceedings resumed, Chandel again raised the issue and claimed more than 1,000 people holding fake caste certificates have been working in government departments. The protesters had already informed the administration about the nude protest. The government should have at least thought about why they were compelled to hold such a demonstration. The CM has no morality to remain on the post and he should immediately resign, Chandel said.
Home Minister Tamradhwaj Sahu informed the House about the protest and the action taken against the protestors. Speaker Charan Das Mahant then rejected the adjournment motion notice following which BJP members, dissatisfied with the reply of the home minister, trooped into the well of the House sloganeering against the government.
The BJP MLAs were automatically suspended as per the assembly rules. However, their suspension was revoked within a few minutes by the Speaker. PTI
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