BHOPAL: Congress MLA Pankaj Upadhyay on Monday staged a sit-in protest in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly premises, alleging that his repeated attempts to raise issues related to the Kailaras Sugar Mill through Assembly questions had been rejected without any explanation by the Assembly Secretariat. Several Congress MLAs later joined the protest in support of Upadhyay.
Upadhyay, the MLA from Jaura in Morena district, sat on a dharna near the Mahatma Gandhi statue on the opening day of the Monsoon Session, demanding that the Assembly Secretariat disclose the reasons for rejecting his questions.
Addressing reporters, Upadhyay said he had submitted questions on the Kailaras Sugar Mill five times over the past few Assembly sessions, including during the “December 2025 session, the March-April 2026 session, Question No. 210 listed for February 17, 2026, and Question No. 260 listed for the current session”.
He alleged that all the questions had been rejected without assigning any reason.
"I have repeatedly tried to raise a matter of public importance concerning the Kailaras Sugar Mill, but every question has been rejected. Even after approaching the Assembly authorities, I have not been informed about the basis for rejecting them," Upadhyay said.
He said he met the Principal Secretary of the Assembly earlier in the day to seek an explanation but did not receive a satisfactory reply.
"As an elected MLA, raising issues concerning the people is my constitutional right. If questions related to public interest are rejected without explanation, it amounts to denial of the rights and privileges of legislators and weakens democratic functioning," he added.
Former minister and senior Congress leader, Jaivardhan Singh also backed the protest, saying the issue of the Kailaras Sugar Mill was directly linked to the livelihood of a large number of farmers and workers.
"The sugar mill is an important issue for farmers and labourers. If legislators are not allowed to raise such matters in the Assembly, it goes against democratic traditions," Singh said.
He further alleged that the functioning of the Assembly Secretariat on the issue raised serious concerns. "If the rights of elected representatives continue to be ignored, the Congress Legislature Party will be forced to intensify its protest through democratic means," Singh added.
--IANS
