Congress MLA Neeraj Sharma wearing the clothes with printed name of God Ram and symbol of Swastik was denied to enter the house on first day of the budget session started on Tuesday by the security personnel deployed at the entry point of the Haryana assembly citing that his attire is not up to the mark. Neeraj Sharma opposed the same stating that nothing was wrong or objectionable in attire he was wearing.
Further he said that the clothes he was wearing were pretty modest as the clothes carried no indecent, objectionable and unparliamentary language or symbol and no picture of Lord Ram. He further said that having Lord Ram’ s name or symbol of Swastik printed on the dress is not objectionable as Lord Ram is omnipresent as inside crores of Indian. Without mentioning name of any of the legislators, while taking on the assembly speaker along with the security personnel, he said that several of the MLAs wears branded mufflers and clothes worth Rs 1 lakh but no one raises any objection. The assembly speaker Gyan Chand Gupta has objection to the name of Lord Ram on the clothes, rather than carrying branded muffler and attire. ‘’Maintaining the decorum as well as following the rules and regulations, i carried no black badges or marks on his clothes or exhibition and despite that he was denied the entry wearing the clothes depicting the name Lord Ram and symbol of Swastik’’, he added. Notably, he was allowed to enter assembly with changed attire.
It is noteworthy that MLA Neeraj Sharma, citing the non-approval of the budget of Rs 28 crore for development works in his constituency, had worn a shroud instead of clothes on which Lord Ram’s Chaupai and Kabir’s couplets are inscribed. Apart from this, pictures addressing public concerns of assembly Faridabad NIT were printed on his clothes. It is noteworthy that after Neeraj Sharma wore this dress, the government stopped him from entering the Republic Day celebrations on January 26 and also was not allowed to enter the Governor’s at home party. In this series, before the Assembly session, there were several rounds of correspondence took place between MLA Neeraj Sharma and the Assembly Speaker regarding the matter. In the reply received by MLA Neeraj Sharma, it has been said that Chapter 2 of the Rule Book of the Haryana Legislative Assembly contains the certain set of rules of code of conduct and etiquette for the MLAs inside the Legislature.
Rule 14 states that no bat of any kind is allowed in the House. It is mentioned in Rule 16 that one should not display any flag or sign in the House and in Chapter 12 of Parliamentary Method and Procedure, in order to maintain decorum and dignity in the conduct of members, members should not indulge in any kind of disorder. In this letter, MLA Neeraj Sharma has been told that as per the instructions of the Speaker, you are requested that if you follow the above mentioned decorum, then only you will be facilitated, otherwise if your attire violates the above mentioned rules during the session, then your entry into the premises will be disrupted requiring the assembly to come up with necessary steps.