Protest over change in temple ‘prasad’: Cong MLAs suspended from Gujarat Assembly

Shri Arasuri Ambaji Mata Devsthan Trust of the Ambaji temple had changed the prasad of the temple from ‘mohan thal’ to chikki on March 3. A senior official of the trust said they had got instructions to change the prasad. The official, however, did not reveal who asked them to change the prasad. The trust is headed by the Banaskantha collector.

Anand Patel, the current collector, could not be contacted despite repeated attempts.

Another official of the temple said that mohan thal has been the prasad of the temple for over 500 years. Ever since the change of prasad, various groups have been protesting the decision.

The issue cropped up in the Assembly on the last day of discussion on budgetary proposals when Congress MLA from the region, Kanti Kharadi, demanded a discussion. However, Speaker Chaudhary denied it saying “the decision on taking up a discussion under Rule 116 belongs to the Speaker.”

When the other Congress MLAs began to protest, Chaudhary said, “It seems this is a preplanned strategy for publicity. You do not want to walk out before the resolution against the BBC comes up for discussion. Let AAP MLA Umesh (Makwana) speak.”

When the MLAs disobeyed the Speaker’s instructions and continued to protest and squatted in the well of the House, Health Minister Rushikesh Patel moved a motion to “suspend” the Congress MLAs for the remainder of the day.

After the MLAs were forcefully escorted out of the House, Chaudhary said, “I had prior information that the Congress office was used to plan the protest. They were not sure if they wanted to speak for or against the Bill (private member’s resolution against BBC). Hence, they decided to protest and walkout. The office is given to political parties to participate in the working of the Gujarat Assembly and not to work against the rules.” He also ordered the sergeant (of the House) to submit a report after probing the issue.

After the AAP MLA spoke on the budgetary demands, BJP’s Vora, requesting a forensic examination of the sweets distributed in the House, said, “The people of Gujarat have not supported the Congress for the past 30 years. They are tense. I am not sure what the contents of the sweets given to us were. They are unable to fight us directly (in elections)… if it contains poison and if any untoward substance is found, the concerned should be punished.” Vora held a pack of sweets in his hand as he spoke in the House.

The Speaker ordered the sergeant to collect the packet of sweets from Vora and submit a report after checking if the substance was edible or not.

After walking out of the House, Amit Chavda, the leader of the Congress in the Assembly, said, “For ages, mohanthal was given to pilgrims visiting Ambaji temple. But the BJP sees business even in prasad. In order to benefit some friends, mohanthal was discontinued as prasad. Locals protested and still no steps were taken. When our MLA from the region, Kanti Kharadi, tried to take up the issue, it was denied and we were suspended. Today, the prasad of Ambaji has been replaced. Tomorrow, the prasads of Somnath, Dwarka and Mahudi will be changed.”