Jaipur, Feb 12 It was a stormy day in the Rajasthan Assembly on Wednesday with bits of paper flying. Such was the situation that Speaker C.P. Joshi had to stand up and say, "I am feeling tortured of holding the Chair."
Soon after the Speaker's remark, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot stood up and said members should maintain the decorum of the House and Laxman Rekha (line of dignity) should not be crossed.
It all started with Madanlal Dilawar (BJP) raising a question on infants deaths in Kota and wanted to know how many deaths had been reported between December 2019 and January and their reasons. He also demanded to know the number of warmers and nebulisers available against the number of children admitted.
In reply, Health Minister Raghu Sharma said 135 deaths were reported in the hospital. Total number of wards were 130, with 90 in JK Lon Hospital, 30 in new medical college hospital, 5 in NICU and 5 in PICU, he said. Against the sanctioned beds of 120, the actual beds functional were 174, he added.
Dilawar then asked about the final report of the expert team that inspected the health facilities in January.
To this, the Health Minister said no such committee had come and the House should not be misled. "This is IMR problem, which is a challenge for the entire nation," he said.
By the time he could complete, the opposition benches had started creating commotion. They moved to the well of the House and started raising slogans.
To this, the ruling party members started showing a paper with former Health Minister Rajendra Rathore's remark: "I feel embarrassed on being the Health Minister'.
Rathore, now the deputy leader of opposition, had said this after reviewing the situation of Kota hospital during the previous regime.
Nimakathana MLA Suresh Modi moved towards BJP legislators to show them the paper. An agitated Vasudev Devnani (BJP) snatched and tore the paper and threw it in the well towards Parliamentary Minister Shanti Dhariwal.
In zero hour, leader of opposition Gulab Chand Kataria raised the issue and expressed concern over the ruling party's attitude. "The way the MLA (Modi) came running towards us could have led to tussle, bringing disrespect to the House.
On this, the Speaker said whatever happened was not as per the propriety and decorum of the House. The Neemkathana MLAs action was against the the dignity of the House, he added.
To this, Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Shanti Dhariwal said, "What you say is correct. But other things should also not have happened in the House. If a piece of paper is given to someone, it should not be torn and thrown in the well. The pieces of that paper are still lying, only we should not be tortured."
Then the Speaker said, "Neither I am harassing you nor the opposition. I am feeling oppressed myself."
Gehlot then stood up and said, "This is quite unfortunate that the Speaker has to make such a statement in the House. It should not have happened. In democracy, the opposition's disagreement should be respected by the ruling party. That's the beauty of democracy.
"We shall welcome their disagreement, but shouldn't cross the Lakshaman Rekha for politics. It should be remembered by all. I hope you will follow what the Speaker has said".
( With inputs from IANS )