GUWAHATI, Feb 4 � Opposition today claimed that the Congress-led Government in the State is at its wits end in the face of its (Opposition�s) firm stand on the issue of the multi-crore rupee NC Hills Autonomous Council (NCHAC) scam.
The Government is also launching a disinformation campaign to malign the Opposition with the baseless assertions that the Opposition is preventing payment of salaries to the employees by stalling the process of passing the finance bills like the Appropriation Bill and the Vote on Account, it alleged.
Addressing a joint press conference after the fourth adjournment of the House, Leader of the Opposition Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, Chandra Mohan Patowary (AGP), Drupad Bargohain (CPI), Uddhav Barman (CPI-M), Rameswar Teli (BJP), Dr Aditya Langthasa (AIUDF) and Bhuban Pegu (Independent) said that the Congress is highly frustrated now.
They alleged that the Speaker had ordered suspension of Prasanta Phukan (BJP) illegally under pressure from the Congress for his playing cymbal. Cymbal is a sacred instrument and it is played at the holy places. There is no harm playing the cymbal in the Assembly, which is regarded to be a holy place.
Moreover, the Congress members in the West Bengal Assembly used to play cymbal and other musical instruments some time in 1996-1997. But regrettably, here the Speaker has describe cymbal playing as an �indecent act�, the Opposition leader said. They also criticized Speaker�s failure to remember the fact that today was the Jumma Namaj day.
The stand of the Opposition now stands vindicated. Chief Minister�s failure to concede to its demands for removal of the Ministers allegedly involved in the NCHAC scam has given credence to the belief that he is also involved in the scam.
All the hyperboles of the Chief Minister and his associates that the weekly news magazine The Week would be sued for its allegedly framing the Government and its Ministers have proved to be useless.
The Opposition therefore wants that the Ministers named by The Week to be involved in the scam should be dropped and all the 30 departments of the NCHAC should be handed over to the CBI for investigation in connection with the multi-crore rupee scam, they said.
On the issue of Prasanta Phukan�s suspension, the Opposition parties in the Assembly have jointly submitted a memorandum to the Speaker describing his decision to suspend the BJP MLA as undemocratic. The Speaker should have issued a warning to the MLA, or, taken away the cymbal from the legislator engaging the Marshals prior to ordering his suspension, they said.
The rules and procedures of the House have made it mandatory for the Parliamentary Affairs Minister to raise the issue in the House and plead for the Speaker�s appropriate action. The Speaker should go for the decision after hearing both the sides. But in the instant case, this procedure was not followed, alleged the Opposition leaders.
On the other hand, Ministers Himanta Biswa Sarma and Rokybul Hussain and other members of the ruling party used abusive language against the Opposition members with the Speaker remaining a silent spectator, they alleged and demanded revocation of the suspension order.
The Opposition leaders also expressed their displeasure before the Speaker over the incident of carrying a fire extinguisher by Jiten Gogoi (Independent) in an intimidating manner.
