Jharkhand BJP MLA wields 'damru' at Assembly to demand reopening of Baba Baidyanath Dham

In a recent development, a BJP leader from Deoghar on Tuesday disrupted the House proceedings at the Jharkhand State Assembly as he barged into the premises demanding the reopening of Baba Baidyanath Dham temple in his constituency. BJP MLA Narayan Das made a sudden appearance at the State Assembly, holding a 'damru' along with fellow legislators who were chanting ‘Jai Shri Ram’ and 'Hanuman Chalisa'. Narayan Das is the MLA from Deoghar constituency where the temple is located.

As soon as the House assembled for the day, the BJP members began their protest over the decision to allot a namaz room and the state's employment policy even as Speaker Rabindra Nath Mahto repeatedly urged them to allow the conduct of business. Unrelenting, the members continued to chant slogans during Question Hour, leading to an adjournment till 12.30 pm.

"No disrespect would be tolerated to the chair. If you are angry, beat me but don't disrupt the proceedings," the speaker told the protesting MLAs. "Please go back to your seats....I am pained. The Chair is not a subject for mockery. Yesterday, you behaved badly...This is the question of the faith of 3.5 crore people and your conduct gives pain," he added.

It is to be noted that a huge controversy erupted on Saturday following the allotment of a namaz room in the Jharkhand Assembly. Following this, BJP MLAs protested againt Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren and Speaker Rabindra Nath Mahato after the government's order towards allotment of a room in the Assembly House for the purpose of offering ‘namaz’, in Ranchi on Monday.

Now, in the latest development, the Supreme Court on Tuesday strictly refused to act on the request for hearing of an urgent petition for the opening of Baba Baidyanath Dham in Jharkhand for the public. A few hours later, BJP MLA Narayan Das entered the Jharkhand Assembly premises with a 'belpatra' garland of flowers around his shoulder while chanting 'Har Har Mahadev' as he was accompanied by a group of people. 

In an earlier update, a notification dated September 2 read, "Allotment of room number TW 348 as Namaz Hall for offering Namaz in the new Assembly Building." This notification document was signed by the Jharkhand legislative assembly deputy secretary Naveen Kumar by order of the speaker, which came to the public domain on September 4. While the Congress and ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha welcomed the move, BJP had strongly opposed it calling it unconstitutional and saying that the temple of democracy should remain the temple of democracy.

Amid the chaos at the State Assembly on Tuesday, the Deoghar MLA stated that he is warning the government to immediately open the temple failing which 'continuous protests' would ensue. As quoted by ANI, Das said, ''Baba Baidyanath Dham is not only a centre of faith for Deoghar, but the country. The temple also provides employment. I've come to warn the govt again to immediately open the temple, or else continuous protests will take place in Deoghar after the session."

What happened at the Supreme Court?

Evaluating the petition that came in, Chief Justice of India NV Ramana said, "People are suffering from COVID and you want the temple to open?" Advocate Prashant Kumar responded to this saying that the COVID numbers in Jharkhand were very low. CJI Ramana in his reply said, ''There is no COVID? Do you know that? Why should we give priority to this?"