MP Vidhan Sabha Bars Use of 1,161 Words in the Assembly, MLAs Object

Bhopal: A day after Madhya Pradesh Vidhan Sabha came up with a booklet barring usage of 1,161 words and phrases during the assembly session, legislators from the ruling and opposition parties objected to the book and demanded omission of some words.

In the booklet words like ventilator, dictator, postman, naxalwad (Maoists) anyay (injustice), habitual, bechara (poor person), halla (noise), bhedbhav (discrimination), chor (thief), yaar (friend), corrupt, Pappu, bandhuwa mazdoor (bonded labourer), Bantadhar (catchphrase used for former CM Digviaj Singh) were declared unparliamentary inside the assembly and if someone uses these any of these words it will be expunged.

Raising objection to the booklet, former protem speaker Rameshwar Sharma sent a letter to Vidhan Sabha chairman demanding removal of words Bantadhar and naxalwad.The letter had signatures of five other MLAs too. “The word Bantadhar is a metaphor used for former CM Digvijay Singh’s regime which was given by the people of Madhya Pradesh for his misrule, how could this be unparliamentary?” he told reporters on the first day of the session.

He further demanded removal of the word naxalwad. “Apart from neighbouring states, Madhya Pradesh is also reeling from the Maoist issue, how will a member raise the issue of naxalism in the assembly if this word is unparliamentary?” he asked.

While former minister and Congress MLA Sajjan Singh Verma demanded removal of words like Mamu (catchphrase used for CM Chouhan) and Chaddiwala (used for BJP leaders who have close association with RSS).

Speaking at the book launch that took place a day before the monsoon session on August 8 in the Sssembly, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said, “When I asked school students who came to see the proceedings of assembly session about the working, one of them replied ‘aisa laga humlog machli bazar dekhne aaye hai’ (I felt like we came to see the fish market). Hence, we (legislators) need to be more careful with the words we are going to use inside the House.”

Interestingly, one of Chief Minister’s catchphrases Mai Ka Laal, which he often uses in the rallies is also barred in the book.

While speaking at the event, former Chief Minister Kamal Nath pointed out, “We have seen a drastic decline in parliamentary languages since the seventh parliament session when I became a member of Lok Sabha. We need to be more careful with the words we use inside the house. But it’s a matter of disgrace that we need such a book.”

However, Speaker Girish Gautam, speaking in the booklet launch, clarified that these words and phrases are expunged from the Madhya Pradesh House records between 1954 and 2021 — and now these words were compiled in a form of official advisory booklet for MLAs.

The booklet given to media persons has words with dates of expunging from the assembly sessions since 1954. The word ventilator was expunged on May 3, 2017, Pappu on March 2, 2016, sasur (father-in-law) on September 23, 1954, tanashah (dictator) on March 31, 1967; sharmnak (shameful) in July 18, 2014 and dikkat (difficulty) and Mr. Bantadhar was removed on February and March in 2021.

Speaking to Newsclick, assembly speaker Grish Gautam further clarified that many words by themselves do not seem unparliamentary, but the context makes them so. “Two booklets were compiled by the House, one of them for members which have details of the context in which these words were used that led to them being expunged. And another book is just with the list of words,” he said.

He pointed out that to teach the code of conduct and protocols of the house to the new MLAs, a two-day training programme has been planned which will help the members to groom themselves on how to conduct themselves in the House.

Popular phrases and sentences restricted for the legislators in the house such as ‘thook kar chatna’ (liking the spit), ‘bhains ke aage been bajana’ (casting pearls before swine), ‘Manuwadi vichar dhara ke log’ (people who believe in Manusmriti), ‘Aapko bhagwan ki kasam hai’ (swearing on God), ‘Lage raho Munna Bhai’, ‘Loktantra ka kala din, (black day for democracy) and ‘ghadiyali aansu mat bahaiye’ (don’t cry crocodile tears).

Ironically, a day after the book launch, one the first day of Monsoon session, during a heated argument between the Chief Minister Shivarj Singh Chouhan and leader of opposition and former CM Kamal Nath over scrapping the State holiday on World Ingenious Day (August 9), the duo frequently used the unparliamentary words outlined in the book.

When asked about the objection, Speaker Girish Gautam replied, “I have received some objections from the members and will look into these objections.”