Tuesday was a day of huge political uproar in the Rajasthan Assembly. There were heated clashes between the ruling party and the opposition over the demand to give the status of ‘State Mother’ to the cow and the gruesome incident that happened with the calf in the cow shed. The situation reached such a stage that the proceedings of the House had to be adjourned a total of seven times throughout the day.
The controversy started with the question of BJP MLA from Hawamahal Balmukund Acharya during the question hour. He raised the demand to give the cow the status of ‘State Mother’. On this, Cow Husbandry Minister Jora Ram Kumawat clarified that at present no such proposal is under consideration with the government and there are already laws in place for cow protection.
The opposition took a jibe at the minister’s reply and said that his own government does not agree with the issue the BJP MLA is raising. There was a long dispute in the House regarding this and the ruling party had to face an uncomfortable situation.
Heated argument between Julie and Gopal Sharma
The atmosphere became more heated when Leader of Opposition Tikaram Julie mentioned the incident of finding a severed head of a cow’s calf (bringing a dead cow) in Hingonia Gaushala. Julie alleged that “the accused in this case is a BJP worker and an MLA is trying to save him.”
Civil Lines MLA Gopal Sharma lost his temper on these allegations. He shouted and challenged, “If any of my men are found involved in this incident, I will resign from the legislature.” During this time, Sharma left his seat and started moving towards the opposition, due to which there was a huge uproar in the House. However, Gopal Sharma later apologized for his conduct through social media.
Preparation for poster war and breach of privilege
Amidst the uproar, Congress MLAs waved posters of the severed head of a cow in the House, on which Assembly Speaker Vasudev Devnani expressed strong displeasure. Congress has started preparations to bring a ‘breach of privilege motion’ against MLA Gopal Sharma, terming his visit to the ‘well’ as a violation of rules.
Chances of conflict on Wednesday also
After the Speaker’s advice late in the evening, the proceedings of the House became smooth, but there are full chances of an uproar on Wednesday also. Congress has announced that it will protest on this issue inside the House and outside (on the streets) on Wednesday.