Wedding Season Causes Mass Absenteeism in Madhya Pradesh Assembly: MLAs Prioritize Constituency Events

India's primary wedding season typically spans from November to February each year.

Bhopal:

More than a dozen MLAs from both government and opposition sides were notably absent during the Madhya Pradesh assembly's Question Hour on Friday, despite having their questions scheduled for response. A minister explained their absence was due to ongoing wedding celebrations that demanded their attendance as public figures.

Legislative Affairs Minister Kailash Vijayvargiya addressed the issue in the House by recommending that future assembly calendars should be planned with consideration of the wedding season.

This marked an unusual occurrence in recent assembly history, with such a significant number of members missing during Question Hour despite having submitted questions for discussion.

After calling upon member Nitendra Brajendra Singh Rathore, whose question was positioned as the 25th and final item, Speaker Narendra Singh Tomar proceeded to call at least twelve additional members' names, receiving no response from any of them.

The absent legislators included Kamleshwar Dodiyar, Kunwar Singh Tekam, Rajendra Bharti, Narendra Singh Kushwaha, Dhirendra Bahadur Singh, Arvind Pateria, Satish Malviya, Rajesh Kumar Shukla, Madhu Bhagat, Bharosingh, Mukesh Malhotra, Virendra Singh Lodhi, Atif Aqeel, and Bhupendra Singh.

Following the speaker's repeated roll call attempts, Minister Vijayvargiya explained that the wedding season had reached its peak, making it particularly challenging for public representatives to miss these important social gatherings in their constituencies.