Congress Alleges Manipulation of MLA Questions in Madhya Pradesh Assembly

The winter session of the Madhya Pradesh Assembly has erupted into a political confrontation, with Congress MLAs accusing.

The Assembly Secretariat and the state government of tampering with questions submitted for legislative discussion. Congress members allege that their queries were altered in wording and intent, while the government has dismissed the claims as unfounded.

The controversy gained momentum after former minister and Congress MLA Jaivardhan Singh said his question on the Ladli Behna scheme beneficiaries was modified without his consent. Singh, who last year received an incorrect reply to another query, now alleges that even the original question was changed before being listed.

Raising the issue in the House, Singh said, “I asked when Raghogarh Degree College was established and what courses it offers. There are no postgraduate courses in that college, yet the minister replied with a list of PG courses that don’t exist. How can an MLA get a correct answer if the question itself is altered? Another college’s details were given instead of the one I asked about.”

The dispute widened after five Congress MLAs submitted written complaints alleging that the Secretariat had changed or diluted their questions, calling it a violation of their legislative privilege.

Former Home Minister Bala Bachchan claimed his question on the Bhavantar Yojana was altered. “When I asked about procurement at support price, the answer had nothing to do with my query. The government is manipulating questions to avoid honest replies,” he alleged.

Congress MLA Mahesh Parmar said his questions on public issues and corruption were being shortened or redirected. “My question on land pooling, clearly visible on the portal, was removed. The Chief Minister later told farmers the Land Pooling Act was repealed. Why delete the question? They compress answers to a few lines, stripping away their meaning,” he said, accusing officials of collusion.

Questions may be submitted online or offline within a prescribed format, and can be starred or unstarred, with the former prioritised for oral responses. For the current session, the Secretariat received 1,497 questions — 751 starred and 746 unstarred.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kailash Vijayvargiya rejected the Congress allegations, arguing that MLAs must learn to file concise questions. “Sometimes questions are so long that the information would need to arrive in an auto-rickshaw. If MLAs ask pointed questions, they will get pointed answers,” he said.

Cabinet Minister Vishwas Sarang echoed the dismissal. “No questions have been changed. Congress makes baseless allegations to cover its own failures. Neither questions nor answers have been tampered with,” he said.

Experts note that the Speaker may shorten excessively long questions or limit lengthy answers — but only without altering their original intent.

With both sides trading charges, the issue has become a fresh flashpoint between the Congress and the BJP-led state government.