MANISH GUPTA
Ranchi, July 29: First day of the Jharkhand assembly’s monsoon session began with the BJP MLAs staging a protest against the insulting remarks made on President Droupadi Murmu by Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury.
The BJP MLAs held placards and shouted slogans against the Congress party outside the assembly. They wanted top Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi to apologize for the grave remarks on the tribal woman President.
BJP Rajmahal legislator Anant Kumar Ojha said that the Congress has disrespected the tribal President and that they should be embarrassed for it. He said that the country will not tolerate insults to the tribal President and that the House should condemn it.
Reacting to the protest, Health Minister Banna Gupta told reporters that the BJP was unnecessarily raking up the issue even after the non-Hindi speaking Congress MP has apologized for his mistake and has asked for forgiveness from the President.
“When the Bengali speaking Congress MP has accepted his mistake and apologized for his unintended remark there is no point in repeatedly protesting against it. The BJP leaders should stop making a mountain out of a molehill,” Gupta told reporters.
Jharkhand assembly speaker Rabindra Nath Mahato began the house proceedings by congratulating Droupadi Murmu for becoming India’s first tribal woman President and wished her on behalf of the assembly. He said that with a tribal woman holding the post of President it will strengthen women empowerment and will help fulfill rights of dalits and tribals in the country. He welcomed newly elected Mandar MLA Shilpi Neha Tirkey.
Mahato announced the names of the presiding officers for the monsoon session. These are Stephen Marandi, Ramchandra Chandravanshi, Sita Soren, Biranchi Narayan and Naman Bixal Kongari.
Seven MLAs have been named in the business advisory committee. They are Speaker Rabindra Nath Mahato, Chief Minister Hemant Soren, Minister Alamgir Alam, Minister Satyanand Bhokta, MLAs CP Singh, Sudesh Mahato and Saryu Roy.
Champai Soren, Rameshwar Oraon, Nalin Soren, Stephen Marandi, Lobin Hembram, Nilkanth Singh Munda, Pradeep Yadav, Sarfaraz Ahmad, Ramchandra Chandravanshi, Aparna Sengupta, Vinod Singh and Purnima Niraj Singh have been named invitees.
The house paid condolences on the death of former Governor K Sankaranarayanan, other former ministers and MLAs, social activists, artistes and other personalities. Later, the house was adjourned till 11am on Monday 1 August 2022.
