Three Rajasthan Congress MLAs, who were part of the rebellion against Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot last year, on Friday accused the state government of discriminating against the legislators of Scheduled Castes and minority communities, with one of them threatening to resign. Former minister Ramesh Meena and MLAs Murari Lal Meena and Ved Prakash Solanki alleged that the government is trying to suppress the voice of legislators representing SC/ST and minorities as they have been allotted seats in the Assembly without mics.
"I will meet Congress leader Rahul Gandhi regarding this issue. I have sought time for a meeting. If our problems are not resolved, then I will not step back from resigning," Meena said outside the state assembly. In July-August last year, the Congress government in Rajasthan faced a political crisis after former deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot and 18 other party MLAs revolted against the leadership of Gehlot.
The issue settled in August after the intervention of the party high command and the Pilot camp gave up rebellion. Ramesh Meena was removed from the cabinet for rebelling against the state government.
On Friday, the former minister asked media persons to check the three previous budgets announced by the state government to look at what legislators representing SC/ST and minority communities got for development work in their constituencies. "I am raising my voice against the acts that weaken the Congress. If you do not allow us to speak, give funds for development work. Ministers do not meet us and then you call us the backbone of the government," he said.
Congress MLA from Chaksu constituency Ved Prakash Solanki claimed that only a selected few are allowed to speak in the Assembly. "On one hand, you consider SC/ST the backbone of the Congress and on the other, you weaken the legislators belonging to these communities. Both the things cannot go together," Solanki said.
He alleged that most of the MLAs belonging to SC/ST communities have been allotted seats in the Assembly without mics. At present, four seats are vacant in the House of 200. The ruling Congress has 104 members and the BJP has 71 MLAs.
Thirteen are independents while the RLP has three, BTP two, CPI(M) two and the RLD has one MLA.
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