Jaipur: The longstanding standoff between Rajasthan Assembly Speaker Vasudev Devnani and Congress state chief Govind Singh Dotasra took an ugly turn Saturday, with Dotasra accusing Devnani of “prying on Congress’ women MLAs through surveillance cameras” and the Speaker hitting back, accusing Dotasra of projecting his own tendencies on the Speaker.The controversy over the installation of additional cameras near the opposition benches in the Assembly spiralled out of control when Dotasra claimed to the press Saturday that the Speaker was prying on Congress legislators, particularly women MLAs, “to see how they are dressed, look at their posture and listen to their conversations”. “Apart from a few top leaders, the Speaker seems to be prying more on women MLAs,” Dotasra said.“Such a person” should be ashamed, Dotasra said, claiming this conduct was disgraceful for a person in a constitutional post. “Our women MLAs will hold a press conference soon questioning the surveillance. The Speaker is conducting surveillance at the behest of the Modi govt, chief minister Bhajan Lal Sharma, and the RSS,” Dotasra alleged.He also claimed efforts were underway to erase evidence of surveillance, and that Congress had learnt that wires are being removed from the cameras in the Speaker’s room. “The assembly cannot function with these cameras in place,” Dotasra asserted.Dotasra’s claim of surveillance, not substantiated with any evidence, saw a prompt response from Devnani, who quoted a Hindi adage to imply Dotasra was projecting on Devnani how he would have acted in a similar situation. “Jaaki rahee bhavna jaisee, prabhu moorat dekhee tin taisee,” Devnani said.The latest exchange follows Devnani’s emotional outburst in Feb this year when he accused the Congress chief of deploying “abusive language” against him after Dotasra said the assembly was “not the sole property” of the Speaker. Though Dotasra’s statement was made after the House was adjourned, and therefore, not on record, Devnani took umbrage to it. “Such a person doesn’t deserve to be a member of the House,” Devnani said, raking it up as an issue that eventually led to Dotasra’s suspension from the House.With the latest exchange between the two hitting a new low, top-ranking functionaries from both BJP and Congress also weighed in with claims and counter claims. While BJP state chief Madan Rathore condemned Dotasra’s statement and called it a “gross violation of parliamentary decorum”, former Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot demanded a governor-led probe into the installation of the cameras near the opposition benches.“They installed separate cameras to monitor the private conversations of the opposition and the Speaker gets all information. The same thing happened in Dotasra’s case (in Feb). The House was adjourned, and people often make remarks informally. But can you consider those informal remarks, which were not part of the House proceedings, and claim Dotasra is not fit to be an MLA? Who gave him (the Speaker) the right to say this?” Gehlot said.Rajasthan minister Jhabar Singh Kharra called Dotasra’s remarks “disgraceful”. “Making such comments about a person holding a constitutional position is wrong. Dotasra is so frustrated that he cannot distinguish between right and wrong,” Kharra said.
