Rajasthan Minister’s 'Dadi' Jibe Leads to Outrage in Assembly

New Delhi (The Uttam Hindu): The Rajasthan Assembly suspended six Congress legislators, including state party president Govind Singh Dotasra, for the entire Budget session on Friday after protests erupted over a comment made by Minister Avinash Gehlot.

The controversy began during a discussion on the government’s ‘Lakhpati Didi’ scheme. Minister Avinash Gehlot made a remark referring to previous schemes in “your Dadi’s name,” which many believed was an allusion to former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Opposition members objected and asked the Speaker, Vasudev Devnani, to remove the comment from the record, but the Speaker did not agree. This led to repeated disruptions in the session. Eventually, Chief Whip Jogeshwar Garg moved a motion to suspend six Congress MLAs, including Dotasra, Ameen Qagzi, Ramkesh Meena, and Hakam Ali. The motion was passed, and they were removed from the session.

In response, Congress leaders staged a protest inside the Assembly. Former Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot criticized the ruling BJP for suspending the MLAs. He argued that the BJP minister’s inappropriate comment about Indira Gandhi and the suspension of Congress MLAs showed that the government was trying to avoid addressing its failures. He also questioned the need for such a comment, calling it disrespectful to a leader who sacrificed her life for the country. Gehlot suggested that the government was using these distractions to shift attention away from discussions on the budget.