BJP MLAs to return new phones. Surrender iPads & flats too, says Rajasthan Cong

Till Thursday afternoon, nine BJP legislators returned the iPhone 13 that they had received from the Rajasthan government on Wednesday

JAIPUR: The Congress on Thursday responded to an effort by the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to embarrass the Ashok Gehlot government over the decision to give lawmakers new phones, saying it was fine with the BJP decision to return the iPhone 13 devices. But, the Rajasthan Congress said, BJP members in the legislative assembly should also surrender the previous devices and flats allotted to them too.

BJP has decided that its MLAs will return the iPhone received by them as a gift at public expense keeping in view the “financial burden” to Rajasthan. (HT File photo)

The Congress said the BJP’s loud criticism of the government’s decision to give lawmakers the newest version of Apple’s iPhone (13) costing nearly ₹90,000 each stemmed from its inability to find flaws in the budget presented the Gehlot government.

“It is not a serious issue, but if they have decided to return the phones, then they should also return the flats, iPads they have received in the past,” said deputy chief whip Mahendra Chaudhary.

By Thursday afternoon, nine BJP MLAs had surrendered the phones to the office of the leader of opposition after a party diktat late on Wednesday, a person familiar with the matter said. The BJP has 71 legislators in the state assembly.

BJP state president Satish Poonia announced the move to return the phones on Twitter on Wednesday, saying the decision was taken after discussion with the leader of opposition Gulab Chand Kataria and deputy leader of opposition Rajendra Rathore.

“It was decided that to send a positive message to people, and on moral grounds also, the phones will be returned. Every MLA has a mobile and they use computers and the internet. It is a positive initiative and everyone in the party supported it, and it involves no politics,” Poonia said.

Congress MLA Krishna Poonia said the BJP was trying to create an issue because they have nothing to say against the budget. She asked whether this was the first time that a facility to legislators was putting a financial burden. “They (BJP MLAs) happily accepted the bag and phone yesterday. They should not have accepted the gift,” she said.

Congress leaders have reasoned that the decision to give legislators a new phone was taken since the assembly is going paperless. In the Gehlot government’s second budget, ₹80,000 was allocated to each MLA for computers and printers.

BJP’s Vasudev Devnani said the assembly’s attempt to go paperless was welcome but spending such amounts of money when the state’s economy is in a poor shape was not justified.