Two Congress MLAs were suspended from the Gujarat Assembly for the remaining period of the Budget Session on Thursday after the party got into a scuffle with Bharatiya Janata Party lawmakers inside the House, PTI reported. Clashes had broken out between the BJP and Congress lawmakers inside the Assembly after the Opposition had raised the issue of farmers’ suicide. Four legislators were injured in the violence, after which Speaker Ramanlal Vora adjourned the House.
Congress MLAs Paresh Dhanani and Baldev Thakor were suspended for trying to attack BJP legislators. Scenes from the violence, including Thakor hitting Minister of State for Women and Child Welfare Nirmala Wadhwani (pictured above), were captured in CCTV cameras. “While marshals tried to control him, he came rushing and hit Wadhwani. In the process, two other MLAs were also injured,” said Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel, according to Hindustan Times.
MLAs of both the parties then went on to damage microphones and vandalise the House. Both the BJP and the Congress blamed each other for the ruckus. While the ruling party said Thakor’s attack on Wadhwani triggered the chaos, the Congress pinned the blame on BJP MLAs Praful Pansuriya and Kanti Amrutiya, who allegedly used cuss words and attacked the legislators.
Violence erupted after the governments said that no farmer had committed suicide in the Amreli and Junagadh districts, reported The Times of India. Congress MLA and national spokesperson Shaktisinh Gohil told Hindustan Times that the BJP was trying to “divert attention from real issues such as gangrapes by BJP men, suicide by farmers and unemployment”.
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