Ruckus in MP Assembly over law and order situation, BJP stages walkout

Bhopal, July 17: Noisy scenes were witnessed in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly on Wednesday when the opposition BJP claimed that the law and order situation was deteriorating in the state, in view of the kidnapping and killing of a three-year-old boy in Bhopal.

The BJP members shouted slogans in the well of the House, criticising the state Congress-led government over the issue and later staged a walkout. Speaker N P Prajapati adjourned the House twice amid the ruckus due to which the Question Hour was washed out.

Earlier, when the House assembled for the day, former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Leader of the Opposition Gopal Bhargava demanded a discussion on the "deteriorating law and order situation". They referred to the kidnapping of a three-year-old boy, whose charred body was found in Kolar area on Tuesday.

They demanded a discussion on their adjournment motion by suspending proceedings of the Question Hour, and also mentioned some incidents of rape and killing of minors in the state in the past few months. However, some state ministers and other members at the treasury benches then stood up to counter them, leading to chaos in the House.

They did not pay heed to the Speaker's appeal to allow him to conduct the Question Hour. The opposition members, led by senior BJP member Narottam Mishra, then rushed to the well of the House and started shouted slogans against the government, forcing the Speaker to adjourn the proceedings for five minutes. When the House resumed, Chouhan and Bhargava again raised the law and order issue and sought a discussion on it. Members of the treasury benches then again stood up to oppose them, leading to din in the House.

The Speaker then adjourned the House till 12 noon. Later, when the House reassembled, the opposition members continued with their demand for a discussion on the law and order situation. The Speaker allowed Chouhan to speak, but he could not complete his speech amid repeated interruptions by members of the treasury benches. Amid the noisy scenes, the BJP MLAs staged a walkout. Chouhan, while talking to reporters outside the House, claimed incidents of rape and killing of minors were taking place in the state everyday. He said the chief minister and the Home minister were responsible for the "deteriorating law and order".

"A 'transfer industry' is flourishing under them. Police officers are being transferred due to political reasons and also for money. The officials are being transferred every day. The morale of officials is down. People of the state are living in fear," Chouhan alleged.