Congress protests over adulterated wheat given to flood victims

Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh Assembly on Wednesday witnessed ruckus as the opposition Congress staged a walkout alleging that wheat mixed with soil was being disbursed to victims of the recent floods in the state capital.

Congress MLA Jaivardhan Singh raised the issue of sacks of wheat allegedly mixed with soil being distributed to the victims of the recent flood in Bhopal and demanded a stern action against the guilty.

The other Congress members carrying wheat with balls of mud in the House joined Jaivardhan, creating bedlam saying that such help is being given to flood ravaged victims and demanded that the guilty should be punished.

He said that some bags of 50 kg containing 20 kg soil were being distributed in state capital as help to victims, and the situation might be worse than this in the rural and far-flung areas hit by the floods.

Senior BJP member Babulal Gaur too expressed concern over the issue, saying that rotten wheat is being disbursed to the flood victims in Bhopal.

Legislative Affairs Minister Narottam Mishra said that already an inquiry has been ordered into the issue and guilty won't be spared.

He said the wheat had come from the farmers, to which the opposition reacted sharply saying that the government was putting blame on the farmers instead of middlemen.

Dissatisfied with the answer, Congress members Arif Aqueel, Ramniwas Rawat, Jittu Patwari and Mukesh Naik demanded stern action against the guilty and pressed for tabling an adjournment motion on the issue.

Rawat demanded that the probe should be completed and put forth during the ongoing Monsoon session of the Assembly itself, to which Mishra agreed.

There was a heated argument between the treasury and opposition benches before the Congress members walked out of the House.

Outside the House, Congress member Tarun Bhanot said that the wheat mixed with soil was being distributed to Bhopal flood victims and termed it as a slap on the face on poor.

"We are going to raise the issue in the House till stern action is taken against the guilty," he told reporters.

Congress members will press for an adjournment motion for a debate on the issue of public concern. It is shocking that no action has been taken yet on the issue, he added.