AAP, Congress MLAs evicted from Gujarat assembly after ruckus over withdrawal of tribal scholarship

Gandhinagar, Feb 25 (PTI) Three tribal MLAs of the opposition Congress and another from the Aam Aadmi Party were evicted from the Gujarat assembly on Tuesday after they rushed into the well to protest the discontinuation of a post-Std 10 scholarship for tribal students.

Following the eviction during Question Hour, seven other Congress MLAs, led by Congress Legislative Party leader Amit Chavda, staged a walkout.

Those who were evicted by marshals at Speaker Shankar Chaudhary's orders were AAP's Chitar Vasava and Congress' Anand Patel, Kanti Kharadi and Tushar Chaudhary.

Members of the ruling BJP demanded their suspension for the remainder of the day, but the Speaker did not give any ruling about suspension.

Chavda and other opposition MLAs, who staged a walkout to protest the eviction, returned to the House after Question Hour to join the discussion on the motion to thank Governor Acharya Devvrat for his address at the start of the ongoing Budget session.

Earlier, During Question Hour, Chaitar Vasava sought to know the reasons for the discontinuation of post-matriculation scholarship for tribal students.

Tribal Development Minister Kuber Dindor said the scholarship is a centrally sponsored one, and has been withdrawn only for those Scheduled Tribes (ST) students who take admission in professional and technical courses under the management quota.

"I want to make it clear that it has not been stopped for tribal students taking admission under the government quota," said Dindor.

Vasava demanded that the scholarship be restored for the "thousands of tribal students" who have already taken admission under the management quota thinking that the costs will be covered through this scholarship.

Anant Patel, Kharadi and Tushar Chaudhary joined Vasava, and asked the government to allocate a separate budget for the scholarship.

Chavda said the scheme was launched during the Congress-led UPA rule at the Centre for all tribal students, and urged the government to reconsider its decision.

When Vasava and Anant Patel asked if the BJP government would consider a roll-back, Dindor categorically denied any such possibility.

These four tribal MLAs then rushed into the well and started shouting slogans against the government.

Despite a warning by the Speaker, they stayed in the well while other opposition MLAs also stood up. When the four MLAs did not return to their seats, marshals evicted them on the orders of the Speaker. PTI PJT PD KRK

Source: PTI