JAIPUR: The Speaker of the Rajasthan Assembly Dr CP Joshi once again adopted harsh tones on Thursday – this time over the absence of several MLAs and Ministers of the Gehlot government during Zero Hour. Dr Joshi went to the extent of giving strict instructions to all ministers to remain present in the House during Zero Hour and added that he will lock the ministers' chambers to ensure that they all sit inside the House.
‘‘I will get locks put on your chambers so that all of you remain present in the House during Zero Hour. This will make you realize the importance of such things,’’ the furious Speaker of the Assembly remarked.
In fact, most of the ministers disappear from the House as soon as the Question Hour ends in the Assembly. As a result, most of them are unavailable during the Zero Hour when the MLAs raise crucial issues. While raising such issues and local problems of the MLAs, many Ministers do not remain present in the House even if they are the ones who have to provide answers.
On Wednesday, the Leader of Opposition and Deputy Leader of the Opposition had objected to the Speaker to give directive on the issue of the disappearance of Ministers during Zero Hour and Dr Joshi on Thursday issued instructions to the ministers to stay in the House during the entire Zero Hour. With the presence of ministers in the house during the Zero Hour, there is now hope of resolving the issues raised by the MLAs.
It is worth mentioning that two days ago on February 11, the Speaker used his privilege to get all the answers from the ministers. Despite the uproar of BJP MLAs and a boycott of the Question Hour, he had the it properly conducted in the Legislative Assembly.
This is not the first time that Speaker Joshi has made public his disappointment at the behaviour of MLAs inside the House. On Wednesday he expressed grave disappointment over the behaviour of MLAs on both sides and remarked that "he feels oppressed." The Speaker’s anguish over the conduct of the MLAs finally made Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot intervene and strive to bring some order to the House proceedings.