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Congress, BJP spar in House after demand for short debate on fuel shortage turned down
BJP calls Congress demand a ‘premeditated conspiracy’ to misguide people and divert attention from UCC Bill
When Congress MLAs stood up objecting to the statement, the Speaker said that this is not a UCC issue.
Gujarat Legislative Assembly on Tuesday witnessed a heated exchange of words between BJP and Congress members after the Speaker denied permission for a ‘short duration discussion’ in the House over LPG and petrol “shortage” in the state amid the war in West Asia.
BJP MLAs called the Congress demand a ‘premeditated conspiracy’ to misguide people and divert attention from the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) Bill, which was tabled in the House on Tuesday, leading to strong reactions from the Congress members.
Soon after Question Hour, Congress MLA Amit Chavda requested the Speaker to allow him to speak on the issue of shortage of LPG and petrol supply in the state under Rule 108 of the Gujarat Legislative Assembly Rules. He stated that he had already moved a notice under the Rule 108 for ‘short duration discussion’, which allows members to discuss the matter of urgent public importance without a formal motion or vote.
Speaker Shankar Chaudhary declined to accept Chavda’s notice stating that he had already allowed a motion under Rule 116 on the same issue on Monday. “We have already accepted a notice under Rule 116 on the same issue so there is no point in accepting this request now,” the Speaker said.
Deputy Chief Minister Harsh Sanghavi intervened and accused the Congress MLAs of a “conspiracy”. “This is a well planned conspiracy and an attempt to send a “wrong message” to people. Through rumours (of LPG and petrol shortage) they want to misguide people,” Sanghavi said.He also alleged that the real problem for the Congress MLAs is the UCC Bill, not the fuel and gas shortage.
Congress MLAs stood up and strongly objected to the Deputy CM’s statements.
The Speaker intervened and said, “Sufficient opportunity for discussion can be given but since this issue (fuel shortage) will be discussed on Wednesday under Rule 116, I will not allow it today. Today there is a discussion on an important Bill -the UCC Bill.”
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Science and Technology Minister Arjun Modhwadia too lashed out at Congress MLAs. “They want to leave the House in order not to participate in the UCC Bill discussion. That is the reason they are creating this issue,” Modhwadia alleged.
When Congress MLAs stood up objecting to the statement, the Speaker said that this is not a UCC issue.
Senior Congress MLA Shailesh Parmar said that if the Parliamentary Affairs Minister (Rushikesh Patel) explained the situation all these questions would not have arisen.
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