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MP assembly adjourned sine die over Swiss gang rape

March 19, 2013 15:04 IST

Madhya Pradesh Assembly was ton Tuesday adjourned sine die three days before schedule following ruckus and uproarious scenes created by the opposition Congress demanding resignation of Home Minister Uma Shankar Gupta, on the issue of gang rape of a Swiss woman in Datia district

As the house assembled for the day, Congress members, led by leader of opposition Ajay Singh, said that they are ready for the discussion on the issue only after the resignation of the home minister.

Following this, they reached the well of the house raising slogans in chorus that Gupta must resign on the issue during the question hour.

After five minutes, Speaker Ishwardas Rohani adjourned the House till 11 am when the opposition did not heed to his plea of returning to their seats. However, after 11 AM also the same situation continued with the opposition gunning for Gupta's resignation and Purshottam Dangi (Congress) raising the issue of damaged crops due to recent hailstorm.

He even brought a large piece of hail from the fields to the House to highlight the plight of the farmers. The speaker then adjourned the House till 11.30 am. When the session resumed, the Congress members again trooped into the well of the House raising slogans against the Speaker and demanding the home minister's resignation.

Amid uproarious scenes, the speaker transacted the listed business and also passed 12 bills with a voice vote without any discussion.

When the Opposition members did not relent on the issue, the speaker adjourned the house sine die. Later, the leader of opposition told reporters that the government was not at all serious about completing the session as scheduled.

He alleged that it didn't even bother to consult him before adjourning the House sine die and thus had violated laid down practices.

Ajay said that the Opposition was ready for a discussion on the issue of Datia case, as well as on the damaged crops of the farmers, but only after the resignation of home minister, as law and order situation under his tenure has totally deteriorated.

Before Datia case, a Korean woman was raped in a resort owned by a ruling party members of Legislative Assembly in Bandhavgarh, but nothing happened in that case also, he alleged.

Ajay said that those arrested in Datia gangrape case were ‘fake’ as the police was under pressure to resolve the matter at the earliest in view of the on-going Assembly session. He demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into the matter and added that the

Congress will fight this issue now on streets. However, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Narottam Mishra said that the Opposition was not at all serious on the issue of discussion and to remain in the news, it has created ruckus in the house forcing the chair to adjourn it sine die.

The minister ruled out the resignation of Gupta on the issue as police have arrested those responsible for the crime. On the charges of leader of opposition that those arrested in the case were fake, Mishra said that the police not only arrested those involved in the crime but also recovered laptop, mobile phone and other belongings of the Swiss national from them.

PTI
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