BHOPAL: MP CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan was unable to reply to Governor Ram Naresh Yadav's customary address today, during the ongoing MP state Assembly's Budget session due to Congress demanding his resignation for his alleged involvement in the MPPEB scam.
Amid the pandemonium, Speaker Sitasharan Sharma rejected the opposition's amendments to the address and passed the Motion of Thanks with a voice vote and later adjourned the House until tomorrow.
The moment Chouhan stood up to reply to the MP Governor's Motion of Thanks, Leader of Opposition in the State Assembly Satyadev Katare and Congress members Ramniwas Rawat, Jeetu Patwari and Sundarlal Tiwari demanded to know from him if the Special Task Force (STF) had registered an FIR against Governor Ram Naresh Yadav after his name cropped up in the MPPEB scam.
Chouhan said that he would reply during the two-day long debate in detail and clarify his position on all issues, but Congress members insisted that he should first clear his position about the Governor and then complete his reply.
The MP Chief Minister said that the Opposition has stated that the government is afraid of MPPEB issue, but after losing Vidhan Sabha, Lok Sabha and local body elections, the Congress is frightened and thinks of only about Shivraj Singh Chouhan all the time.
Chouhan also highlighted the financial and economic condition of the state, claiming that despite taking a loan, Madhya Pradesh is progressing on the developmental front.
However, Congress members raised a ruckus on the MPPEB scam and the Governor once again, leading to heated exchanges between opposition as well as treasury benches.
The Speaker said that the opposition always raised the MPPEB scam issue and demanded the Chief Minister's reply on it but when Chouhan began replying, the opposition did not listen to him, adding that the behaviour of Congress members is against the parliamentary traditions of the state.
Later, Chouhan said that he wanted to give a point-by-point reply to the the Motion of Thanks, but the opposition did not listen to the Leader of the House and disrespected democracy.
Chouhan said that just as they raised the issue and ran away last time, they were looking for an escape route today as well.
Amid pandemonium, the Speaker rejected opposition's amendments to the Governor's address by a voice vote and later adjourned the house until tomorrow.