GUWAHATI, July 29 - The Legislative Assembly today witnessed noisy scenes forcing the Speaker to adjourn the House for a short period after members of the Treasury benches and the Opposition Congress entered into a verbal spat on the issue of the agitation of TET teachers seeking regularisation of their jobs.
Not satisfied with the reply given by Education Minister Siddhartha Bhattacharya to a �Special Mention� under Rule 301 made by AGP MLA Prafulla Kumar Mahanta and Congress member Jakir Hussain Sikdar on the issue, Congress MLAs Rupjyoti Kurmi and Kamalakhya Dey Purkayastha stood up from their seats and pointed out that the BJP, in its Vision Document, had promised to regularise the TET teachers.
Despite repeated requests by Speaker Hitendra Nath Goswami, both Kurmi and Purkayastha refused to yield.
Soon some members of the ruling party also entered into a heated argument with the two Congress MLAs.
With Kurmi and Purkayastha continuing with the protest, Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma intervened and said that two-three members �cannot be allowed to hijack the House�.
�You have handed over the House to two-three MLAs. If that is the case, the rest of us can go out,� a visibly agitated Sarma said.
He said that if necessary the ruling benches are ready to move a resolution to �expel� Kurmi and Purkayastha from the House.
Sarma said that if such disruption continues then he would be forced to walk out of the House. Soon afterwards, he did leave the chamber but the Speaker clarified that Himanta had gone out for other reasons and it was not a case of �walkout�.
Speaker Goswami also warned Kurmi and Purkayastha of harsh action if they continued to disrupt the proceedings. �I generally take a liberal stand. But members should not misuse that. Discussions inside the House should be productive. The Opposition can raise issues. The ministers will reply. The public will judge,� he said.
After that, the two Congress MLAs resumed their seats and the Speaker called upon AGP�s Ramendra Narayan Kalita to raise the next issue on agenda under Rule 301.
However, Kalita, instead of speaking on his topic, pointed to the just-concluded uproarious scenes and said that such conduct would not benefit the House.
No sooner had Kalita made that comment when Kurmi and Purkayastha, supported by other Congress members, were again on their feet.
Speaker Goswami then immediately adjourned the House for 10 minutes. Once the House reassembled after the adjournment, the proceedings went on smoothly.
