Opposition calls off dharna in Rajasthan Assembly

Opposition members in the Rajasthan Assembly today lifted their three-day-old dharna inside the house after chief minister Ashok Gehlot intervened to end the deadlock.

BJP MLAs supported by CPI(M) and JD(U), protesting the suspension of BJP chief whip RS Rathore for one year and party MLA Hanuman Beliwal till the end of the current session for their "unruly behaviour" and stalling the proceedings, ended the dharna after Gehlot held talks with deputy leader of opposition Ghanshyam Tiwari, BJP MLA Digambar Singh and CPI-M MLA Pema Ram.

"The Opposition has agreed to discuss the matter of revocation of suspension of the BJP MLAs on Monday," Gehlot told reporters in Jaipur.

"Chief minister, deputy leader of opposition and speaker Dipender Singh Shekhawat will hold a meeting on Monday and will take final decision regarding revocation of suspension of the BJP MLAs," government chief whip Virendra Beniwal said.

"We called off the dharna after Gehlot assured that the matter regarding revocation of suspension of our party MLAswill be discussed in the house on Monday, and also fixing date for discussion on water," BJP MLA Gyan Dev Ahuja said.

On March 18, the entire opposition had sat on a dharna inside the house following Rathore's suspension.

Yesterday, the assembly was adjourned for the day after BJP legislators refused to lift their dharna and grappled with marshals trying to evict Rathore.