Kailaras Sugar Mill row: Congress MLAs stage dharna in MP Assembly over rejected questions
Synopsis
On the opening day of MP's Monsoon Session, Congress MLA Pankaj Upadhyay sat in dharna at the Mahatma Gandhi statue inside the Assembly premises, alleging five rounds of his questions on the Kailaras Sugar Mill were rejected by the Secretariat with zero explanation — a move his party says strikes at the constitutional rights of elected legislators.
Key Takeaways
Congress MLA Pankaj Upadhyay staged a sit-in protest at the Madhya Pradesh Assembly on 20 July , the opening day of the Monsoon Session.
Upadhyay alleged his questions on the Kailaras Sugar Mill were rejected five times across multiple sessions without any explanation from the Assembly Secretariat.
Rejected questions span the December 2025 session , March–April 2026 session , and the current session, including Question No.
210 and Question No.
Former minister Jaivardhan Singh backed the protest, calling the sugar mill a livelihood issue for farmers and workers in the Morena region.
The Congress Legislature Party has warned it will intensify its agitation if the Secretariat does not disclose reasons for the rejections.
Congress MLA Pankaj Upadhyay on Monday, 20 July staged a sit-in protest inside the Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly premises, alleging that his questions on the Kailaras Sugar Mill had been repeatedly rejected by the Assembly Secretariat without any explanation. Several Congress legislators joined the demonstration in solidarity, escalating the standoff on the opening day of the Monsoon Session.
What Triggered the Protest
Upadhyay, who represents the Jaura constituency in Morena district, staged the dharna near the Mahatma Gandhi statue on the Assembly premises. He said he had submitted questions on the Kailaras Sugar Mill on five separate occasions across multiple sessions — including the December 2025 session, the March–April 2026 session, Question No. 210 listed for 17 February 2026, and Question No. 260 listed for the current session — and that each was rejected without any stated reason.
Earlier in the day, Upadhyay met the Principal Secretary of the Assembly seeking a formal explanation but said he did not receive a satisfactory response.
What the Congress MLA Said
'I have repeatedly tried to raise a matter of public importance concerning the Kailaras Sugar Mill, but every question has been rejected. Even after approaching the Assembly authorities, I have not been informed about the basis for rejecting them,' Upadhyay told reporters.
He argued that the rejections amounted to a denial of legislators' constitutional rights. 'As an elected MLA, raising issues concerning the people is my constitutional right. If questions related to public interest are rejected without explanation, it amounts to denial of the rights and privileges of legislators and weakens democratic functioning,' he said.
Senior Congress Leaders Back the Dharna
Former minister and senior Congress leader Jaivardhan Singh backed the protest, linking the Kailaras Sugar Mill directly to the livelihoods of farmers and labourers in the region. 'The sugar mill is an important issue for farmers and labourers. If legislators are not allowed to raise such matters in the Assembly, it goes against democratic traditions,' Singh said.
Singh also warned that if the rights of elected representatives continued to be ignored, the Congress Legislature Party would intensify its protest through democratic means.
Why the Kailaras Sugar Mill Matters
The Kailaras Sugar Mill, located in the Morena region of northern Madhya Pradesh, is reportedly a significant source of income for a large number of sugarcane farmers and mill workers in the area. The Congress's repeated attempts to table questions suggest the mill's operations — or alleged lapses in its functioning — remain an unresolved concern for constituents in the belt.
This is not the first time opposition legislators in Madhya Pradesh have alleged that the Assembly Secretariat has rejected questions on politically sensitive subjects without adequate justification, critics argue. The pattern, if established, raises broader questions about the transparency of legislative question-screening processes.
What Happens Next
The Congress Legislature Party has signalled it will escalate its agitation if the Assembly Secretariat does not provide a formal explanation for the rejections. The Monsoon Session, which opened on 20 July, is expected to see continued pressure from the opposition on the issue.
Point of View
Disclosing it would defuse the controversy instantly; the refusal to do so is itself the story. Madhya Pradesh's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party has a comfortable majority, but allowing the opposition's legislative access to be curtailed on a farmers' livelihood issue hands Congress a politically resonant grievance ahead of any future electoral cycle. The Kailaras Sugar Mill question is also a test of whether state assemblies can self-correct on transparency without court intervention.
NationPress
21 Jul 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
Why did Congress MLA Pankaj Upadhyay protest in the MP Assembly?
Upadhyay staged a sit-in protest on 20 July because the Assembly Secretariat rejected his questions on the Kailaras Sugar Mill five times across multiple sessions without providing any explanation. He demanded that the Secretariat disclose the reasons for the rejections.
What is the Kailaras Sugar Mill issue about?
The Kailaras Sugar Mill, located in the Morena region of Madhya Pradesh, is a livelihood concern for a large number of sugarcane farmers and mill workers. Congress legislators allege that issues related to the mill's functioning have been repeatedly blocked from being raised on the Assembly floor.
Which Congress leaders joined the protest?
Several Congress MLAs joined Upadhyay's dharna in solidarity. Former minister and senior Congress leader Jaivardhan Singh also backed the protest, warning that the party would intensify its agitation through democratic means if the Secretariat did not respond.
What did Upadhyay do before staging the protest?
Before sitting in dharna, Upadhyay met the Principal Secretary of the Assembly to seek an explanation for the rejections. He said he did not receive a satisfactory reply, which prompted him to stage the sit-in near the Mahatma Gandhi statue on the Assembly premises.
What could happen next in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly?
The Congress Legislature Party has signalled it will escalate its protest if the Assembly Secretariat does not formally explain the rejections. The Monsoon Session, which opened on 20 July, is expected to see continued opposition pressure on the issue.
