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Opposition boycotts Governor’s address

JAIPUR: Opposition members boycotted the Governor’s customary address on the opening day of the Budget session of the Rajasthan Assembly on Monday protesting over the twin issues of the State Council of Ministers having more members than the legally permissible 30 and the plight of the farmers affected by frost and cold wave conditions.

Prior to the main Opposition Congress members walking out of the House, the lone Communist Party of India (Marxist) member Amra Ram made an exit protesting against “Government apathy” towards farmers. The Janata Dal (United) members did not join the boycott.

Leader of the Opposition Hemaram Choudhary, who rose to his feet as soon as Governor Shailendra Kumar Singh started reading his speech at 11 a.m., said the Government had violated the Constitution by keeping 36 members in the Council of Ministers in a 200-member House. “This Government has no right to present a speech and make you read it,” he said amid noisy scenes. His party colleagues Ramnarain Meena, Mohammed Mahir Azad and others joined him.

Mr. Singh, in the Assembly for his first ever address after taking over as Governor, stayed barely ten minutes in the House before he excused himself requesting members to treat the 37-page speech, mostly carrying the achievement of the four-year-old Vasundhara Raje Government, as read. “My health is not okay and I have read the beginning as well as the concluding parts of the speech,” he said summing up.

What all he read was not audible in the din created by the members.

Later when the House re-assembled for condolences, Congress member C. P. Joshi protested against the tabling of the Governor’s address saying that it lacked Constitutional validity as the Council of Ministers had violated the rules. The 91st amendment of the Constitution, under Article 164(1A), stipulates that the strength of the Council of Ministers should not exceed 15 per cent of the total strength of the House, he said.

Mr. Joshi said Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje’s Council had 36 members including six Parliamentary Secretaries and according to Article 208, Parliamentary Secretaries too were part of the Council of Ministers.

In his address, the Governor said Rajasthan had come out of the ignoble “BIMARU” category of States to be a “jhujharu” (resurgent) State under the present Government. With effective fiscal management Rajasthan was free from the problem of overdraft and its 11th Five Year Plan size was more than double of the 10th Plan. The State could make an identity in education and in road linking project. In the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS), it ranked the best in the country, he said.

The text of the address contained the details of the crop damage caused by frost and cold weather conditions. The crop damage, affecting three lakh farmers, was estimated at Rs.1,000 crore in 10 lakh hectares spread over 22 districts of Rajasthan. A “girdawari” (crop assessment by revenue officials) was being done to assess the actual position, he informed.

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