The police deployed water cannons to disperse the protesting Congress workers, ANI reported. They also stopped the protestors at the barricade and prevented them from moving towards the assembly.
#WATCH | Jaipur | Police use water cannon against Rajasthan Congress workers who are staging a protest outside the Rajasthan Assembly against the state government over the suspension of six Congress MLAs from the Assembly pic.twitter.com/7rBNQ8Lbjr
— ANI (@ANI) February 24, 2025
Rajasthan
Leader of Opposition, Tikaram Jully, stated that the state government was ‘not allowing’ them to speak. “They (state government) do not let the opposition speak, their ministers create conflict and do not even resolve it there… We have a meeting of MLAs today and will decide upon the strategies and also hold a protest,” he told ANI.
The controversy began after Social Welfare Minister Avinash Gehlot referred to Indira Gandhi as “your dadi” (grandmother) while discussing the ‘Lakhpati Didi’ scheme. “In the 2023-24 budget also, like always, you named the scheme after your ‘dadi’ (grandmother) Indira Gandhi,” he added.
His remarks sparked a massive uproar in the Assembly, which was adjourned three times before six Congress MLAs were suspended. The suspended members are PCC chief Govind Singh Dotasara, Ramkesh Meena, Jakir Hussain, Amin Kagzi and Sanjay Kumar. Even after being suspended, these MLAs sat on a ‘dharna’ inside the assembly building, demanding an apology from Gehlot and the revocation of their suspension.
Speaking with ANI on Saturday, Tikaram Jully mentioned that the opposition was only asking for the remarks to be expunged. “The MLAs were ready, we had talked to the speaker, but we did not get any reply from there. I also think that the government just wants to put out the message publicly that the Opposition is simply protesting and blocking, but there is nothing like that from our side.
“The Opposition is only asking that the remarks made on Indira Gandhi ji be taken back, the way they are making an issue of it and covering up the mistakes of their (BJP) ministers,” he added.
In response to his comments, Gehlot said they weren’t made out of disrespect, highlighting that the “elderly in the family are addressed as Dadi.” “If the Congress party objects to the word I used and considers it unparliamentary, it can be removed from the Assembly records. I am ready to abide by whatever decision my party and the leader of the BJP legislature party make,” he said.
(Edited by : Sudarsanan Mani)
