Nehru Out, Ambedkar In: Madhya Pradesh Assembly replaces ex-PM photo

Bhopal, Dec 19: In a significant development, the first session of the 16th Madhya Pradesh assembly on Monday began with a controversy when the portrait of former Prime Minister, the late Jawaharlal Nehru, was replaced with that of the late Dr BR Ambedkar. The picture is displayed behind the Speaker's chair in the House.

The portrait of Mahatma Gandhi is still displayed on one side, while a replacement was made of Jawaharlal Nehru's picture which was on the other side of the Speaker's Chair.

Congress Reacts

Congress leaders objected to the change and demanded that Jawaharlal Nehru's picture be restored. The party warned that if the picture is not restored to its original state, Congress MLAs will do it themselves.

First Session After Elections

The session began with pro-tem speaker Gopal Bhargava welcoming the newly-elected members to the house and starting the process of administering their oath.

The four-day winter session commenced nearly a week after a new Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government under Chief Minister Mohan Yadav took office.

The pro-tem Speaker informed the house that Umang Singhar from the Congress had been elected by the party as the Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the assembly, a cabinet-level post. The BJP has nominated senior leader and former Union minister Narendra Singh Tomar for the post of assembly speaker.