Congress Accuses Madhya Pradesh Assembly Of Altering MLA Questions

The winter session of the Madhya Pradesh Assembly sparked a major political storm as Congress MLAs accused the Assembly Secretariat and the state government of "colluding" to alter the questions they submitted for the session. One MLA alleged that even his query about the new Ladli Behna beneficiaries was changed without permission. The government, however, has rejected the allegations outright.

Last year, former minister and Congress MLA Jaivardhan Singh received an incorrect response to his question in the Assembly. This time, he claims, the question itself was changed before being listed.

In the Assembly, Singh protested formally. "On July 1, 2024, I asked when Raghogarh Degree College was established and which courses were offered. There are no PG courses in that college, yet the minister replied that MC Physics, Chemistry, and MA Politics are being taught. A simple question about courses was answered with PG options that don't exist. What are the rules when an incorrect answer comes to the House? Another college's answer was provided instead of the one I had asked about," he said.

He later told NDTV, "It is the Assembly's responsibility to issue notices. We have taken up this matter several times. The Secretariat says the department is not responding, while the department says the Secretariat isn't responding properly. Where should an MLA go?"

The controversy deepened when five Congress MLAs submitted written complaints to the Assembly Secretariat. They alleged that the Secretariat altered the wording and even the intent of their questions, violating their legislative privilege.

Former Home Minister Bala Bachchan said, "My question (No. 506) was about crops and when the Bhavantar Yojana was implemented. The answer stated that it was applicable to cotton, maize, peanuts, and soybeans since 2017-18. But when I asked about procurement on the support price, everything changed. The government is manipulating questions because it does not want to answer honestly."

Congress MLA Mahesh Parmar said, "Whenever we ask questions related to public issues or corruption, they shorten them or turn them into district-level queries. My question on land pooling, which is visible on the portal, was deleted. That night, the Chief Minister told farmers that the Land Pooling Act was repealed, so why was the question removed? There are many such cases. They shrink the answers to 10-20 lines, destroying their essence. The government is running away, and officials are hand-in-glove."

Questions in the Assembly can be submitted online or offline, using a prescribed format that must be filed within the stipulated timeline. MLAs can ask starred and unstarred questions, with starred questions being granted priority.

In the latest session, the Secretariat received 1,497 questions, 751 starred and 746 unstarred.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kailash Vijayvargiya dismissed the allegations, suggesting instead that MLAs need training in asking concise questions. "Sometimes questions are so long that the information would need to be brought in an auto-rickshaw. If MLAs ask pointed questions, they'll get pointed answers," he said.

Cabinet Minister Vishwas Sarang echoed this, stating, "No questions have been changed, and the government is not avoiding answers. When baseless statements are made, Congress tries to save face by making these allegations. Neither questions nor answers have been tampered with."

Experts note that long questions can be shortened with the Speaker's permission, and lengthy answers may be limited, but only while preserving the original intent.

As the controversy grows, the issue has turned into yet another flashpoint between Congress and the BJP-led government.