Offbeat: The one with the E-Vidhan Sabha inauguration, and all the errors

The paperless governance brought the challenges of its own

Even on the inaugural event, India-Bharat row couldn’t be skipped

Updated: Sep 14th, 2023


Inauguration of E-Vidhan Sabha by president Droupadi Murmu was a landmark moment with the digitisation of the house. However, things didn’t go as planned, and the scenes created in the assembly were interesting, to say the least.

The ‘paperless’ irony


The ‘paperless’ session of E-Vidhan Sabha saw many BJP leaders reading questions from paper chits.

Contradicting the event, MLAs including Govind Parmar, Rivaba Jadeja, Kirit Patel, and Darshna Vaghela pulled out their good-old-paper chits to read their statements given by the whip in the questioning session, defeating the purpose of E-Vidhan Sabha.

It seems that the MLAs will take some time adjusting to the new norms of the house, as old habits die hard. 

MLAs, not-so-tech savvy

During a practice session, MLAs turned out to be befuddled beginners at keeping up with the latest technology.

Many assembly members required assistance from personnel to guide them through the operations of the tablet provided to them.

Some just confusingly  ran their fingers on tablet screens.

The credit drama behind E-Vidhan Sabha


Former minister of revenue and speaker of the 14th Gujarat Legislative Assembly, Rajendra Trivedi, was the first person to present the initiative of E-Vidhan Sabha. He was the one who sent a proposal to the government for ‘paperless’ Vidhan Sabha.

Moreover, he had organised a seminar on the subject. Trivedi also launched a book named ‘Pahel’ (initiative). But here comes a twist: while heading the project, the revenue minister saw a political exit from the post in between.

Later, Shankar Chaudhary, speaker of Gujarat Legislative Assembly, took the reins and led Trivedi’s initiative. Now that the E-Vidhan Sabha is a success, Chaudhary was given all the credit and applause. Not many, even some sitting in the Vidhan Sabha, are aware of this. 

India-Bharat hullabaloo


Amid the prolonged India-Bharat controversy, the chief minister of Gujarat, Bhupendra Patel, also joined the league of ‘Bharat’ name over India.

During the inauguration event, CM Patel reportedly said “Digital Bharat” instead of “Digital India”. 

CM Patel apparently changed the name of a government scheme after prime minister Narendra Modi did the same previously. 

The E-Vidhan Sabha inauguration invitation card for president also read ‘President of Bharat’.

Minister of health confuses between CM and PM!


The series of dramas on the first day of the Gujarat Assembly monsoon session didn’t end here; this time, health minister Rushikesh Patel made an error during his speech. Swept away by enthusiasm during the question-answer session in the assembly, Patel mistakenly addressed PM Modi as ‘honourable CM’ instead of ‘honourable PM’.


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