Question Hour is wasted on trivial issues: Tripathi

Bhopal, Mar 14 (UNI) SP legislator Narayan Tripathi today alleged in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly that valuable time during Question Hour is wasted on trivial issues and not all questions are taken up as a result.

Rejecting the allegations of wastage of time, Speaker Ishwardas Rohani pointed out that on several occasions not only all the questions were taken up but a second round was carried out.

He said the member was uttering an untruth and he himself did not remain present in the House the whole day.

As soon as the proceedings got underway, Commercial Tax Minister Babulal Gaur turned towards Deputy Assembly Speaker Hazarilal Raghuvanshi and passed a joke. Mr Raghuvanshi gave his reply and other members started presenting their viewpoints.

In a lighter vein, CPI-M member Ramlakhan Sharma said remarked that he was the Leader of Opposition for today and the Speaker recognised him thus.

After comments by several members, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Narottam Mishra took objection to the absence of Congress members and stated that a lot of money was spent in gathering answers. Mr Sharma countered this and Mr Tripathi registered his objection.

Later, Leader of Opposition Jamuna Devi and other Congress members arrived in the House. The Speaker rejected Mr Tripathi's objection and expunged several remarks.

The Question Hour ended ten minutes prior to scheduled due to the absence of several members. The Speaker also called the names of members for a second round.

During the Question Hour, the Speaker took exception to the behaviour of Dr Govind Singh (Cong) and said the proceedings of the House would be carried out as per rules.

He said a member who raised the question can authorise other members to ask questions on his behalf. However, this authorisation would not be accepted by fax and the concerned member had to follow given procedure.

Dr Singh said he had been authorised by Mr Brajendra Singh Rathore (Cong) by fax to ask questions on his behalf. There was a brief argument between Dr Singh and Mr Rohani over the issue.

UNI PKJ-PS LS HT1514