Treasury and opposition benches exchanged heated words during the discussion on a no-confidence motion brought by the Congress against Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly on the last day of the monsoon session on Friday. The proceedings witnessed repeated interruptions after Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Sharma, while participating in the debate, referred to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in the context of Maoist leader Hidma. Congress MLA Devendra Yadav demanded evidence to support the allegation that Rahul Gandhi had reposted content backing Hidma. The treasury benches, in turn, objected to Yadav’s conduct in the House, triggering a noisy confrontation that forced Chair to adjourn proceedings for five minutes. Moving the no-confidence motion, Leader of Opposition Dr Charan Das Mahant tabled what he described as a 136-point charge sheet against the BJP government. He alleged that each of the government’s 136 weeks in office had witnessed failures affecting women and youth, accusing the administration of betrayal and governance lapses. Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Sharma remarked that the Leader of the Opposition Dr Charan Das Mahant, had to resort to asking his members to raise their hands to secure support. During the tenure of the previous Congress government, T S Singhdeo had resigned from the Panchayat portfolio after writing to the then Chief Minister, as his views were not being heeded within the government; he had wanted to build houses for the poor but was not heeded. However, immediately after the BJP government came to power in the state, the BJP government promised to provide 18 lakh houses to the poor.

 

Earlier, Leader of Opposition in Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly Dr Charan Das Mahant presented the no-confidence motion against the BJP in the House. The Leader of the Opposition in Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly presented a charge sheet containing 136 points in the House. He stated, "This government has completed 136 weeks, and each week has seen a new conspiracy hatched against women and youth of Chhattisgarh. "Today, I have come with an allegation, an instance of betrayal, and a failure corresponding to each of those weeks,” said Dr Mahant. BJP MLA Ajay Chandrakar, Agriculture Minister Ramvichar Netam, BJP MLA Dharamlal Kaushik, BJP MLA Rajesh Munat, Dharamjeet Singh, other cabinet ministers and BJP MLAs participated in the discussion and countered the allegations of the Congress. The BJP MLAs also highlighted the achievements of Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai government in the last two and a half years. Congress MLAs Kawasi Lakhma, Daleshwar Sahu, Raghvendra Kumar Singh, Savitri Manoj Mandavi, Vikram Mandavi and other Congress MLAs participated in the discussion. The Congress MLAs targeted the BJP government, saying that law and order situation in the state has totally collapsed during the BJP rule. The motion would be defeated because the BJP holds a majority of 54 seats in the 90-member Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly. The Congress party has 35 seats while Gondwana Gantantra Party has one MLA in the Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly. Earlier, BJP MLA Ajay Chandrakar remarked that it was the first time in the 25 years since the formation of the Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly that the Leader of the Opposition had initiated discussion on a no-confidence motion; this implies a lack of trust in the other party MLAs.