Congress stages walkout from MP Assembly

Congress today staged a walkout from the Madhya Pradesh Assembly in protest against the Speaker not allowing the Leader of Opposition Satyadev Katare to speak on Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan's reply to the motion of thanks on the Governor's address.

Congress' plea of speaking on the Chief Minister's reply was turned down by Speaker Sitasharan Sharma on the ground that after the Leader of the House's reply there is no rule or tradition for the Opposition leader to speak on the matter.

Katare insisted that he had right to speak on the CM's reply on the issue as the latter did not reply to many issues raised by the Opposition.

Congress' Mukesh Nayak also intervened and backed Katare on the matter.

The Opposition leader's plea that Congress wanted to speak as representative of people also failed to impress the Speaker.

However, when Speaker took up other listed business of the House, Congress MLAs staged a walkout.

After the MLAs re-assembled and raised the issue again, the Speaker not only mentioned the rule that did not allow the members to speak on the issue but also told them that since they have staged a walkout, the issue is already over and they have no right to raise it again now.

Earlier, Chouhan in his reply to the motion of thanks listed his government's various plans, including Narmada-Kshipra river linking scheme to develop Madhya Pradesh as one of the most advanced states in the country.