Congress MLAs staged a walkout from the Gujarat Assembly during Question Hour on Thursday, alleging poor budgetary allocations for Scheduled Castes (SCs), Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and minorities, as well as underutilisation of funds.
The Opposition began a protest while Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Manisha Vakil was replying to questions regarding grants allocated to 10 boards and corporations under her department.
Speaking to reporters outside the Assembly after the walkout, the Congress alleged that the BJP’s “double engine government” is against Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribes, OBC, minority, sanitation workers and all disadvantaged communities.
During question Hour, Congress MLA Shailesh Parmar raised a question on the budgetary allocations to as well as non-utilised funds by various boards and corporations under the Social Justice and Empowerment Department. He also sought the rationale behind the allocation of funds as he alleged that the funds allocated to these communities that constitute nearly 68 per cent of Gujarat’s population is not proportional to their numbers.
Vakil then started listing the funds allocated and non-utilised during the last five years.
“In the last five years, a total of Rs 2116.25 crore has been utilised by the 10 corporations and boards. In the year 2021-22, Rs 332.29 crore was utilised, Rs 467.27 crore in 202-23, Rs 432.02 crore in 2023-24, Rs 640.68 crore in 2024-25 and Rs 243.99 crore until January in the current fiscal,” the minister said.
Congress MLA Amit Chavda intervened and alleged that allocated funds remained unspent, citing the Safai Kamdar Development Corporation which he claimed that in 2024, about 28 per cent of the allocation was not used. He also said 40 per cent of funds allocated to the Gujarat Minority Finance and Development Corporation, 35 per cent for the Gujarat Backward Classes Development Corporation, 58 per cent for the Thakor and Koli Vikas Nigam and 50 per cent for the Gujarat Gopalak Vikas Nigam remain unspent.
Even as the budgetary allocations are low, up to 50 per cent of funds remain unspent, he alleged.
However, Vakil clarified that the amount Chavda and others are referring to are up to December whereas the expenditure in terms of loan disbursements and others usually increases in the last months of the financial year. Justifying the unspent amounts as only ‘delays’ due to incomplete documentation, she added that once these are complete loans are disbursed. To this, independent MLA from Bayad Dhavalsinh Zala and BJP MLA from Gandhinagar South Alpesh Thakor pointed out the issues faced by applicants of loans from SC and OBC communities.
The minister said that against a provision of Rs 101.10 crore in 2024-25 for Thakor and Koli Vikas Nigam, Rs 86.14 crore had been spent up to December, while in 2025-26, against a grant of Rs 101.65 crore, Rs 23.69 crore had been spent so far.
When Parmar insisted that Vakil give a clear reply to his original question regarding the criteria adopted for fund allocation, Vakil reiterated that apart from the funds given to these boards and corporations, it is the department that spends a substantial budget for the backward classes. Congress MLAs stood up and started demanding clear answers from the minister. Speaker Shankar Chaudhary requested the members to let the minister complete her reply first. “I have given enough time to you for questions and supplementary questions. You should listen to her. If you want to leave you can as it is your right but you have to listen to her response,” the Speaker cautioned the protesting Congress members.
Unhappy with Vakil’s answers, all 12 Congress MLAs walked out of the House, claiming the government was not providing clear answers and also alleged that the allocations for SCs, OBCs and minorities were inadequate.
Following the walkout, Agriculture Minister Jitu Vaghani accused the Opposition of violating Assembly rules by repeatedly standing up without permission and interrupting the minister.
Forest and Environment Minister Arjun Modhwadia said that the opposition staged the walkout to prevent the full financial details from being placed on record including the Minister’s reply that the major fund allocation is to the department and not the boards and corporations. “It is the highest budget allocation but Congress did not want this to be on record and only wanted to gain publicity,” Modhwadia alleged.
BJP MLA Ramanlal Vora too added and slammed the Congress for trying to gain “cheap publicity”.
The Speaker said members must seek permission before speaking and cannot insist that a minister provide a specific type of reply and in what manner. “If you are more satisfied with the minister’s response you have the right to ask a supplementary question. Any disturbance during the Question Hour, which is crucial for addressing public issues, is not justified. Instead of letting the proceedings continue, they stood in the middle of the response only to divert the media’s attention. They should stay away from all this,” the Speaker said, condemning the walkout.
“I formally reprimand the Congress members for their conduct,” he said, adding that by walking out, they had also forfeited the opportunity to raise other questions listed by their party.
‘BJP’s face exposed’
Outside the House, Amit Chavda said that once again the double engine government of the BJP is discriminating against these communities which are being exploited, yet the government is not providing any help.
The face of the BJP, which is against these various communities, has been exposed, he alleged.
“Various board corporations working for SC, ST, OBC and minority communities under the Social Justice and Empowerment Department have been allocated a very low budget in the last two years in proportion to the population and a large part of it has remained unused. According to the government’s reply in the Legislative Assembly, Rs. 26.60 crore was allocated for the Gujarat Scheduled Caste Development Corporation in the year 2024, of which Rs. 25.70 crore was spent and Rs. 0.89 crore remained unused, while in 2025 Rs. 28.78 crore was allocated, of which Rs. 23.30 crore was spent and Rs. 5.48 crore remained unused,” Chavda said, adding to the list of other boards and corporations.
On the discussion inside the House, Chavda said, “We asked what are the norms for budget allocation? Is allocation made on the basis of economic, social or educational status? What are the reasons behind under-allocation and under-utilisation? If 50% of the amount is allocated in the budget but 50% of the amount is not used, then what are the reasons for that? The BJP government is not giving a clear answer in the Assembly. It has been demanded again that discrimination and injustice should be stopped and the budget allocation and expenditure should be answered transparently.”
“The majority of the BJP leaders belong to the SC, ST, OBC and minority communities. But they do not even stand up to speak in the Assembly to protect the rights of their communities. What kind of compulsion is there in the BJP MLAs that they do not even answer and are not ready to say a single word for the people of their area and the community,” the Congress MLA sought to know.
The Congress MLAs later returned to the House to participate in the discussion on the Budget.
Speaking to reporters outside the Assembly after the walkout, the Congress alleged that the BJP's “double engine government” is against Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribes, OBC, minority, sanitation workers and all disadvantaged communities.
Share
