Congress lacks courage to face facts: Rajasthan CM to Oppn amid Assembly uproar

Jaipur, Feb 21 (IANS) Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma launched a sharp attack on the Congress during an intense uproar in the Assembly on Saturday, accusing the opposition of avoiding debate and lacking the courage to face facts.

“The Congressmen do not dare to hear the truth, so they fled the House. I came fully prepared with documents. They challenged us, and we accepted that challenge,” the Chief Minister said while responding to the controversy over the debate on two years versus five years of governance. 

Sharma claimed that his government has implemented 285 out of 352 resolutions passed in 2023 within just two years, contrasting it with what he termed the Congress’s “zero performance.” 

“Their column of work is empty. What will they debate? If they had worked, they wouldn’t have disappeared from the country. All they did was corruption and appeasement,” he said.

He added that if the former Chief Minister had come to the House for debate, the difference between five years and two years would have been clear to everyone.

Reacting to the Congress boycott, Sharma stated that he had presented complete documentation to the House. 

“There is a lot to say, and I am tabling everything. Congress members lacked the courage to hear the truth, so they fled the floor,” he said. 

Following his statement, the Assembly proceedings were adjourned until Monday. The Chief Minister also used a metaphor to highlight his governance approach: “I have never shortened the line. We draw a longer line,” he said, implying progress and expansion of governance.

Sharma accused Congress State President Govind Singh Dotasra of deliberately creating chaos to prevent Leader of the Opposition Tikaram Jully from speaking. 

“Dotasra did not want Jully to speak, so he created the ruckus. Congress leaders are fighting among themselves. Someone else wants to become the Leader of the Opposition,” he alleged. 

He added that the opposition would not be able to silence him, “They do not have that much power.” 

The uproar began after Parliamentary Affairs Minister Jogaram Patel proposed a debate on the government’s two-year performance report, instead of a comparative debate on two years versus five years, which the opposition claimed had been agreed upon in the Business Advisory Committee (BAC). 

Congress leaders argued that the Chief Minister himself had announced a comparative debate earlier, calling the motion an insult to the CM’s statement.

Earlier, during the session, Bharat Adivasi Party (BAP) MLAs raised slogans, wore protest T-shirts, and demanded a CBI investigation into paper leaks and recruitment exam irregularities. 

Posters were waved in the House, creating additional disruption. 

BJP MLA Shatrughan Gautam accused the previous Congress government of a Rs 400 crore scam involving the improper allocation of grazing land, alleging that land meant for displaced villagers was transferred to favoured individuals. 

The Assembly chaos reflected deep political confrontation, with the ruling BJP accusing the Congress of evasion and misgovernance, while the opposition questioned the government’s accountability and transparency. 

--IANS

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