Chaos rocked the Gujarat Assembly on Wednesday as legislators of the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress almost came to blows. Speaker Rajendra Trivedi suspended Congress MLAs Pratap Dudhat and Ambarish Der from the Assembly for three years for allegedly attacking a BJP lawmaker with a microphone in the House, ANI reported.
Congress legislator Baldev Thakor was suspended for a year for allegedly disrupting the proceedings in the House.
The commotion began during a discussion over tabling of the report of Justice DK Trivedi Commission in the Asaram Bapu case, The Hindu reported. After the Question Hour when Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel raised a point of order, Congress MLA Vikram Maadam sought to speak. However, the Speaker did not allow him.
Congress legislator Amrish Der then objected to it and asked the Speaker to allow Maadam to express his views. The Speaker complained about Der’s tone, after which the two Congress leaders rushed to the Well of the House.
Speaker Trivedi then suspended both the leaders, which enraged the Opposition party’s Pratap Dudhat. When BJP’s Jagdish Panchal asked the Congress leaders to remain silent in the Assembly, Dudhat allegedly attacked him with a rod attached to a microphone.
Following the incident, the Speaker suspended Dudhat for the rest of the session and adjourned the Assembly for 15 minutes. During this time, Der entered the House from the back door and attacked Panchal.
The marshals in the Assembly intervened and brought the situation under control.
Deputy Chief Minister Patel said the incident was shameful. “The Congress MLA not only insulted the Speaker but also became violent in the House,” Patel told reporters. “The House has been adjourned currently, and once the session resumes, we will decide what action needs to be taken.”
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