Raj Assembly adjourned as row over land deals continues

JAIPUR: The Rajasthan Assembly witnessed noisy scenes today over the issue of land deals in Bikaner and Jaisalmer with opposition alleging that it had been enabled by undue favours extended by the state government.


Opposition BJP staged a walk out over the issue and also protested in the well of the House, leading to the House being adjourned for the day.

BJP legislators Kiran Maheshwari and Vasudev Devnani moved slips to the Chair urging that the House take up the issue.

However, when Deputy Speaker Ramnarayan Meena said he could not entertain their request as the the matter had been raised once yesterday, opposition members protested.

They argued that the issue raised yesterday was confined to the Kolayat area of Bikaner while today the discussion would also touch upon land deals in Phalodi, Jaisalmer and Bikaner.

The arguments continued even after Speaker Deependra Singh took the Chair as he, too, refused to allow a discussion as demanded by the opposition.

Devnani and Maheshwari staged a dharna in the well of the House even as the Speaker allowed BJP's Kailash Bhansali to speak on a separate issue.

However, Bhansali spoke on the issue of alleged land purchase following which the entire opposition created an uproar and moved to the well of the House shouting slogans against Congress and its chief Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra.

There had been pandemonium in the House yesterday when BJP members alleged that the state government had unduly favoured Vadra in land deals in the state.

Congress members today responded with counter-allegations that a BJP leader had bought land in a prohibited area near the border when the party had been in power prior to the Ashok Gehlot government in the state.

BJP members staged a walk out and were followed by CPI(M) MLAs Amra Ram, Pema Ram and Pawan Duggal who accused both Congress and BJP of being involved in land scams.

Upon their return, BJP members again stormed the well of the House pressing for a discussion on land acquisition, leading the Speaker to adjourn the House for the day.

Earlier, during Question Hour, Hanuman Beniwal, who has been suspended from the BJP legislature party, staged a brief dharna in the well of the House demanding action against the principal of Bikaner engineering college who is accused of corruption and misuse of official powers.