Rajasthan Assembly debates expenditure on minister’s bungalows

When PWD Minister Harendra Mirdha began to reply on a starred question, the BJP’s Devi Singh Bhati alleged that more than Rs 2 crore were wasted on repairing the bungalows even as the state faced famine.

“Not only this, Rs 1.6 lakh alone were spent on the chief minister’s official residence,” Bhati said.

Reacting to Bhati’s statement, Congress legislator Laxman Singh Rawat alleged that during the previous BJP regime, there were many reports of “thefts” from the then ministers’ bungalows.

A number of Congress MLAs joined Rawat’s demand that the “theft cases” during the BJP’s rule be probed.

The home minister said about Rs 5 lakh were spent on the official bungalow of leader of the opposition B S Shekhawat and Rs 3 lakh were proposed to be spent.

The house came to order when Deputy Speaker Devendra Singh ordered that certain “derogatory remarks” used by some members during the debate be expunged.

Amidst charges and counter-charges, House chairman Ram Narayan Choudhary ordered that Dilawar’s “irrelevant allegation” and the entire proceedings on the subject be expunged.

Earlier, when senior BJP MLA and former civic minister Bhanwar Lal Sharma asked the Treasury members to apologise for the “utter disorder” in the House, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Khet Singh Rathore said the BJP must tender an apology on Dilawar’s behalf.

Choudhary later adjourned the House for 30 minutes. When it reassembled, the two sides again traded charges, leading to the introduction of the expulsion, which was passed by a voice vote.