GANDHINAGAR, MARCH 12
The main Opposition Congress legislators and independent MLA Jignesh Mevani on Thursday staged a brief walkout from the Gujarat Assembly to protest against the Speaker’s decision to now allow division of votes on a private member’s bill on SC and ST communities.
While the opposition demanded the division of votes on the private bill moved by Congress MLA Naushad Solanki, Assembly Speaker Rajendra Trivedi said the bill has already been rejected by the BJP-led House through a majority voice vote.
After the walkout, the Congress MLAs returned to the House 10 minutes later and took part in the discussion.
The Gujarat Scheduled Caste Sub-Plan and Tribal Sub- Plan (Planning, Allocation, and Utilization of Financial Resources) Bill introduced by Solanki stated that the allocation of funds for the SC and ST communities should be in proportion to their population.
While Congress legislator P D Vasava and independent MLA and Dalit leader Mevani supported the bill, BJP MLAs Naresh Patel and Hitu Kanodiya opposed it.
When Solanki refused to withdraw his bill, the speaker went for a voice vote.
As soon as he declared that the bill stands rejected after a majority voice vote, Congress MLA and state party chief Amit Chavda sought division of votes.
When the speaker rejected the demand saying he has already taken the voice vote, Congress MLAs along with Mevani started gathering near the Well shouting slogans- ”Dalit virodhi BJP sarkar – Adivasi virodhi BJP sarkar” (BJP government against Dalits and tribals).
They then walked out of the Assembly and returned after around 10 minutes.
