JAIPUR: Paper leaks in recruitment exams in the state sparked off a stormy start to the Rajasthan Assembly Budget Session on Monday. While the opposition BJP boycotted the Governor's traditional address over the issue, the protest by members of RLP has led to three members being expelled.
As soon as Governor Kalraj Mishra started his address, the opposition started creating a ruckus. Due to this, the Governor could not read the address completely.
Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot targeted the opposition and said that "if the Governor had read the address in full, the BJP would have lost its ground because there are so many achievements in our regime. The BJP could not muster the courage to listen, that's why they did such a drama."
CM Gehlot further added that "the way the opposition colleagues are making ruckus regarding paper leak, they should know that we are more worried about paper leak than them. If our government will not be able to provide jobs then questions will arise on us. That's why we ourselves want that papers should not be leaked and the youth should get employment. It is very easy to make allegations." Taking a dig at the BJP leaders, Gehlot also remarked that "they should tell us whether papers are not leaking where their government is?" He added that the Rajasthan government is taking strict action against paper leakers.
CM Gehlot asserted that "if the Governor had read the address, BJP would have been deflated because the achievements of the government are more than one. Schemes have been implemented for the general public." He said that it is a tradition to list the achievements of the government through the Governor's address but the opposition could not muster the courage to listen to the achievements of our government. Out of panic, they are creating such ruckus to divert the issue. The opposition has nothing to say. The Leader of the Opposition had come thinking that they would create a ruckus in the House today." The CM said that we will fight against them.
The Leader of the Opposition, Gulabchand Kataria stood up as soon as the Governor started reading the address. Kataria said that "papers of examinations are continuously leaking in Rajasthan which amounts to playing with the future of the youth. You have the responsibility of protecting the constitution but how will it work like this." After this, the BJP MLAs came to the well and started raising slogans and ruckus.
Even when proceedings of the House started after the Governor's address, the uproar over the paper leak continued. The uproar by the BJP MLAs stopped, but three RLP MLAs continued the protests. RLP MLAs Pukhraj Garg, Narayan Beniwal and Bawri carried placards demanding a CBI inquiry into the paper leak.
The speaker asked the three MLAs to sit down, but even after this the sloganeering continued. The angry speaker finally expelled the three MLAs from the House for the whole day. All the three RLP MLAs were asked to be marshalled out of the House. Later, the assembly had to be abruptly called off.
The Rajasthan government will give a reply on the paper leak issue on Tuesday.
In the past three years, 16 recruitment exams of the Rajasthan government had been marred by paper leaks that have cast a dark shadow over the future of lakhs of candidates in the state. Over the past week, former deputy CM Sachin Pilot has also attacked the Gehlot government over this ticklish issue.