MP Assemby witnesses furore over removal of Nehru's portrait

Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh Assembly on Wednesday witnessed furore over replacement of the portrait of Jawaharlal Nehru with that of Dr B R Ambedkar in the house with the Opposition Congress demanding its restoration in its original place.

Portraits of Mahatma Gandhi and Nehru had been put on the wall behind the speaker’s chair. The photo of Nehru had been removed from the wall and replaced with that of Ambedkar around six months ago without disturbing the portrait of Mahatma Gandhi.

The Assembly staff members say the portrait of Nehru was shifted to another hall. The change was noticed by some media men when the first session of the newly elected state Assembly began a couple of days ago.

Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Umang Singhar raised the issue in the house on Wednesday demanding the restoration of the portrait of Nehru in its original place.

There were heated exchanges between the members of the treasury and Opposition benches on the issue.

BJP MLA Kailash Vijay Vargiya said that the House would become a museum if the demand of the Congress members would be conceded.

He urged the Congress members to wait for the formation of a committee which would take a decision on the matter.

Singhar, however, said that there was no need for formation of a committee to decide on the issue and the portrait of Nehru should be restored in its original place.

The newly-elected speaker of the house Narendra Singh Tomar said that a committee would be constituted to review the matter and take a decision on it.

A decision on the issue would be taken as per the recommendations by the proposed committee, he said.

The Congress lawmakers, however, created a din in the house over the issue, leading the speaker to adjourn the Assembly for the day.

Later, the Congress MLAs staged a sit-in protest under the statue of Mahatma Gandhi inside the premises of the Assembly to highlight their demand.

Earlier in the day, Tomar was unanimously elected as the speaker of the Assembly. His name was proposed for the post by chief minister Mohan Yadav which was seconded by CLP leader Singhar.

Tomar is the first MLA from Gwalior-Chambal region of the state to hold the post of Assembly speaker.

The former Union minister was among seven BJP MPs who had been fielded by the party in the recently held Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh. Five MPs including him won the polls.

All of them had resigned from the Lok Sabha following their election to the state Assembly.