Bhopal: In a rare show of bonhomie, a Congress MLA came out in support of a former BJP MLA after the police took action against him for organizing a protest without permission from the authorities in Madhya Pradesh.
Former BJP MLA Surendranath Singh had on July 19 organised several protests through his supporters at places like CM’s house, Assembly, Mantralaya and other high-profile establishments. The administration had responded with heavy deployment of forces to contain the situation.
However, few days ago, the police penalised Singh for organizing a protest without permission and slapped a fine of Rs 23.76 lakh, which included the expenditure on deployment of forces to quell the protests.
The move faced opposition from the BJP and as well as the Congress.
First time Congress MLA Kunal Chaudhary on Sunday flayed the action and said, “Holding protests was the basic right of the public representatives and penalising them for such demonstrations wasn’t right.”
The police on Monday issued another order saying that all protests which take place without the prior permission of the administration would be dealt with legally and expenses incurred in dealing with such demonstrations would be recovered from the organisers through district collector.
Former minister Rampal Singh too voiced his disgruntlement with move and said Congress MLA Kunal Chaudhary staged numerous protests in the past but was never penalised.
Senior BJP leaders, including Vikas Virani, handed memorandum to collector and commissioner opposing the imposition of financial penalty on the former lawmaker saying it’s arbitrary, unconstitutional and autocratic.
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