GUWAHATI, Sept 24 - The autumn session of the State Assembly got off to a noisy start today with the opposition parties demanding an adjournment motion to discuss the increasing prices of petrol and diesel, which the Speaker declined.
The raucous opposition members reacted to Speaker Hitendra Nath Goswami�s announcement of reserving his ruling on the matter for tomorrow by storming the Well of the House, shouting slogans and displaying placards.
The Speaker adjourned the House once but proceeded with the agenda for the day once the House reassembled amid sloganeering by the Congress and AIUDF legislators.
Earlier, moving the adjournment motion after the Question Hour, opposition members � Ajanta Neog and Debabrata Saikia (Congress) and Hafiz Bashir Ahmed (AIUDF) � said the rapidly rising petroleum prices were putting a huge burden on the common man through its cascading effect on all essential items with the Centre looking the other way. They pointed out that despite the noticeable slump in global crude oil rates, the government was not reducing excise and other cess on oil, triggering a continuous rise in domestic oil prices.
In his reply, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary said the points that ought to have been made by the Opposition in a debate through an adjournment motion, if allowed, had already been made during the discussion on the motion�s admissibility. He added that the matter could be raised and discussed under other provisions of the Assembly rules.
When Speaker Goswami announced that he was reserving his ruling on the matter for tomorrow, Congress and AIUDF legislators stormed into the well of the House. Some ruling BJP legislators also charged into the well and engaged in a verbal duel with the opposition members. With the stalemate continuing, the Speaker adjourned the House for a few minutes.
When the House reassembled, the Speaker refused to accede to the Opposition demand for his ruling today itself, triggering another bout of sloganeering and placard display in the well of the House.
Amid sloganeering, the Speaker proceeded with the agenda for the day, including taking up Zero Hour notices and allowing the government to lay various Bills and reports on the floor of the House.
The House concluded the entire day�s proceedings within ten minutes, without discussion on any topic and reserving the ministers� replies for later before it adjourned for the day.
