Congress walks out of Assam Assembly over MLA disqualification row

Guwahati, Feb 17: The Congress staged a walkout of the Assam Assembly on Wednesday, demanding the disqualification of its two MLAs who recently joined the Raijor Dal.

Soon after the House assembled, Leader of the Opposition Debabrata Saikia sought a ruling from Speaker Biswajit Daimary on two notices submitted by the Congress against the legislators.

Abdur Rashid Mandal and Sherman Ali Ahmed, both three-time MLAs from Western Assam constituencies, had earlier been suspended by the Congress and later joined the Akhil Gogoi-led Raijor Dal.

Speaker Daimary said he had only just received the notices and would require time to examine them.

Saikia said that while the party had not formally expelled the two MLAs, it expected the Speaker to initiate disqualification proceedings against them under the provisions of the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution.

As the Speaker declined to issue an immediate ruling, Congress members staged a walkout during Question Hour.

Addressing the press later, Saikia said, “We had submitted demands for suspension of several legislators to the Speaker under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution for anti-party activities. We have provided sufficient evidence and sought their suspension. However, the Speaker has not taken any action for the past four years.”

He named Kamalakhya Dey Purkayastha, Basanta Das, Sashikanta Das, Siddique Ahmed and Sherman Ali among those against whom action had been sought.

Referring to cases before the Supreme Court involving the Speakers of Maharashtra and Manipur, Saikia said the apex court had directed that disqualification petitions be decided within a “reasonable time”.

“Although the court did not specify a timeline, four years is certainly a long time,” he said.

Saikia also alleged that the Speaker is under pressure from the government to keep the Opposition weak. “Therefore, we staged a walkout during Question Hour,” he added.

With inputs from PTI