Raipur: The first day of the Chhattisgarh legislative assembly's monsoon session was adjourned on Wednesday for 24 hours after chaotic scenes erupted inside the assembly. Opposition BJP shot consecutive questions towards the government regarding the stepping down of TS Singh Deo as the Panchayat Minister.
Members of the BJP demanded a clarification from Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel over the incident, leading the Speaker to adjourn the house initially for 10 minutes and later for the next day.
The issue was brought up by BJP MLA Ajay Chandrakar as soon as Zero Hour started. "A situation of constitutional crisis has arisen in the state. The minister has made serious allegations against the government by writing a letter. Under collective responsibility, the Chief Minister and other ministers should answer such allegations," Chandrakar, alongside Brijmohan Agarwal and other legislators, said.
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The BJP MLAs further noted that the executive and cabinet were answerable to the legislature but had failed in this regard. "The allegation made by the minister should be investigated. TS Singh Deo's allegation related to a conspiracy to stage a strike shows distrust in the government," Agarwal, meanwhile, asserted.
The statement comes after Singh Deo's earlier claim, wherein he had alleged the hatching of a conspiracy to stage a strike by MNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) workers. The issue was countered by Assembly Speaker Charan Das Mahant, with the latter questioning how a letter from a minister to the CM became 'a matter of constitutional crisis'.
"The Assembly has not received any communication so far regarding the acceptance of resignation of any minister," the Speaker said. LoP Dharamlal Kaushik and other MLAs, however, remained determined for clarification from CM Baghel.
