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The July 8-19 session had halted abruptly on July 11 without a debate on a no-confidence motion brought by the Congress.

Assembly session finally closed

After a two-month-long standoff between Raj Bhavan and the BJP government,the monsoon session of the assembly has finally been declared over. The July 8-19 session had halted abruptly on July 11 without a debate on a no-confidence motion brought by the Congress. On a request from the Congress,Governor Ram Naresh Yadav pictured left did not declare the session over and asked the government to convene it again. In between,the Congress held mock sessions and the governor consulted constitutional experts and even called on Sonia Gandhi for advice. The government simply chose not to reply to the governors letter. Senior Congress leaders had given up on their demand for a special session. When the closure notification was finally issued,neither party took note of it.

Money-sensitive seats

Theres a common thread that binds the constituencies represented by the chief minister,the assembly speaker,the leader of the opposition,the chief whip of the Congress legislature party and 18 ministers besides others. The Election Commission has identified 60 of the 230 assembly constituencies in the state as expenditure-sensitive. The election machinery will keep an eye on these seats where the authorities expect cash,liquor and gifts to be exchanged ahead of the elections. Seats represented by nearly four dozen legislators of the BJP,which has been in power for more than nine years now,are among these sensitive seats. The commission has said that its a preliminary list,but the final version is not expected to be vastly different.

Cash rather than laptops

The free laptop bug has bitten Shivraj Singh Chouhan too. Meant initially for meritorious students of government schools,the Chouhan government has extended the scheme to private schools following criticism from some quarters. Unlike neighbouring Uttar Pradesh,which gave laptops,MP handed over bank drafts for Rs 25,000 each leaving it to the beneficiary to buy the laptop of his or her choice. Not ready to stop here in the election year,the government has also decided to stand guarantee for loans taken by students for higher education. It will stand guarantee also for loans up to Rs 25 lakh taken by youths to start businesses. The Congress has alleged Chouhan has been passing off a central scheme as his own.

MLAs as public servants

Madhya Pradesh has been sitting on a proposal to amend the Lokayukta Act to bring MLAs under the institutions purview. The Lokayukta had sent a proposal holding that the legislators too are public servants. The proposal is reportedly doing the rounds of general administration and law departments but no decision has been taken. Its anybodys guess whether the proposal will be approved by legislators who generally sink their political differences in such matters. The basic MLA fund in MP is Rs 77 lakh. The fund is spent by the machinery under the collector. How can we be held responsible for irregularities? contends a legislator.