Gujarat : 10 Congress MLAs suspended from Assembly for a day over fake offices issue

Gandhinagar : The opposition Congress party in the Gujarat State legislature staged a walkout during the debate on fake offices discovered in the state. The Congress accused the administration of evading its duty and protecting the culprits instead of sharing the necessary information. All Congress members present in the chamber were suspended for both house sittings on Tuesday.

During the question hour in the house on Tuesday, Congress legislator Dr. Tushar Chaudhary from Khedbrahma inquired the tribal development minister about the payment of crores of rupees to fake offices in Chhota Udepur district under the guise of the government’s tribal development department.

For a sham office to run well for 8 years, it must have had complicit cooperation from the genuine office’s officials. Dr. Chaudhary stated that officials from the tribal development, irrigation, water resources, and finance departments were suspected of being involved in providing fake offices with PLA accounts, barcodes, and contact numbers, resulting in a payment of ₹21 crores. Chaudhary requested information on the amount and the measures taken against the criminals.

The tribal development minister Kuber Dindor stated that the department discovered fake offices operating and took immediate action by filing a FIR on October 26, 2023, which later became known to others. The government is taking aggressive measures to address the issue, resulting in the arrest of five individuals. An investigation is in underway about the funds made to this fraudulent office.

When Congress MP Amrutji Thakor inquired about the duration of operation of the phoney offices, the minister revealed that they had been operational since 2016-17. The Tribal Development Department had paid ₹21 crores to these fraudulent establishments.

When the minister began discussing earlier instances of phoney occurrences under the Congress rule, all 10 Congress MPs disagreed and insisted that the minister address the present matter at hand instead of speaking off-topic, leading to them yelling. The BJP MPs were incensed and rose from their seats.

On Tuesday, there was commotion in the parliament as Congress lawmakers began chanting about alleged fraudulent activities occurring under the BJP administration, such as counterfeit checkpoints (Toll Naka), false cash, Indian prepared Foreign Liquor (IMFL), Prasad prepared from adulterated ghee, counterfeit PMO personnel and CMO officials.

Shankar Chaudhary, the speaker of the house, requested the Congress MPs to be quiet three times, but they did not reply and kept chanting slogans. One member went as far as entering the house’s well.

Cabinet minister Hrishikesh Patel suggested to the speaker that all current Congress members be suspended for the whole day’s proceedings, including the second day’s afternoon session. This proposal was backed by industries minister Balwantsinh Rajput. The speaker then suspended all 10 Congress MPs from participating in both Tuesday’s parliamentary sessions.

In addition to the Congress leader, Amit Chavda and Jignesh Mevani, the remaining suspended MLAs are Tushar Chaudhary, Geniben Thakor, Gulabsinh Chauhan, Amrutji Thakor, Anant Patel, Imran Khedawala, Kanti Kharadi, and Arvind Ladani. AAP MLA Hemant Ahir participated in the walkout with Congress members.

Five Congress members were not present for the Tuesday morning session: Arjun Modhwadia, Shailesh Parmar, Dinesh Thakor, Vimal Chudasama, and Kirit Patel.