MP Assembly

MP Assembly adjourned after BJP objects to Digvijaya Singh's tweets to his partymen

Madhya Pradesh Assembly was on Tuesday adjourned for half an hour amid uproar over senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh's appeal to his party MLAs to raise the issue of 'corruption' during the Kumbh Mela in the House.

The former Chief Minister had tweeted a link of news report captioned, "Congress mum on Simhastha-Kumbh, Bala Bachchan accused of fixing".

MP Assembly adjourned after BJP objects to Digvijaya Singh's tweets to his partymen
Former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijaya Singh (FILE PHOTO)
In another tweet, Singh asked the Congress Legislature Party to raise the issue of corruption in the Kumbh.

The state Parliamentary Affairs Minister Narottam Mishra on Tuesday objected to Singh's tweets, saying an "outsider" is directing the (acting) leader of opposition Bala Bachchan to raise certain issues, and this was interference in the proceedings of the House.

Mishra said Singh's tweets amounted to conewstempt of Assembly and disrespect to Bala Bachchan, who is a Dalit.

Some Ministers and BJP members backed Mishra.
Speaker Sitasharan Sharma reserved his ruling on the point of order raised by Mishra.
Senior Congress MLA Ramniwas Rawat said Singh had not given any direction in his tweets.
Mishra raised the issue as a part of a conspiracy to create uproar and thwart opposition's attempt to raise the issue of corruption in the Kumbh at Ujjain (which ended in May), Rawat alleged.
Accusations flew back and forth between the treasury and opposition benches over the issue.
Amid the uproar, Congress's Tarun Bhanot said nobody can take away freedom of expression.
Citing newspapers reports, he said that Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan himself had asked veteran BJP MLA Babulal Gaur not to raise issues in the House.

As the din continued, the Speaker adjourned the House for thirty minutes.
Outside the House, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Mishra said that Digvijay Singh was free to give any direction to his party leader, but by doing it in public (through Twitter), Singh demonstrated his "anti-Dalit mentality".

Defending his father, Digvijay's son and Congress MLA Jaivardhan told reporters, "Why can't Singh, former Chief Minister and Rajya Sabha member, express his view on social media?"
Bachchan had raised the issue in the House even before his father's tweets came, he added.
"We have raised the issue of wheat mixed with mud being given to flood victims among other subjects of public importance, but the Government is avoiding debates on them and creating furore to waste the time of the (monsoon) session," he alleged.