GUWAHATI: The Assam Assembly underwent unruly scene on day 2 of the budget session forcing Speaker Biswajit Daimary to adjourn the House twice as opposition and treasury bench members engaged in verbal duels and refused to be pacified even when the chair intervened several times.
The first adjournment was for 10 minutes during the Question Hour when MLAs of the ruling, as well as opposition parties, were locked in debates, ignoring appeals by Daimary to maintain decorum.
The MLAs of the ruling BJP and the opposition Congress were seen exchanging words during a question on the implementation of the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) in the state.
Replying to a question from BJP MLA Bidyasing Engleng, Public Health Engineering (PHE) Minister Jayanta Mallabaruah said that ₹6,500 was paid per month to Jal Mitras, employed under the JJM.
“It is not a job for them. They are volunteers. However, we are giving them honorarium with dignity,” Baruah said.
As Congress MLA Kamalakhya Dey Purkayastha and Raijor Dal MLA Akhil Gogoi demanded to know what the minimum wage in the state was and whether the state government deemed the amount paid to the Jal Mitras to be adequate, they engaged in an altercation with the treasury bench.
Along with Rupjyoti Kurmi, several other BJP members rose up and started arguments with the members of the opposition bench.
Speaker Daimary urged both sides to refrain from arguing but as the ruckus persisted, he adjourned the proceedings for 10 minutes.
When the House re-assembled, Daimary requested the members to abide by the rules and procedures for the conduct of business in the House.
“No one was there for my protection, I felt alone in conducting the proceedings,” he said, referring to how both ruling and opposition members did not listen to his words.
Quoting the assembly rule book, the Speaker said, “I request the members to allow each other to speak and also let the ministers give their replies.”
After the end of the Question Hour, the House was adjourned for an hour over an adjournment motion brought by AIUDF over eviction drives in Goalpara and Dhubri districts.
As the Speaker said the motion is being disallowed and urged the AIUDF to raise the matter under other provisions, the opposition party members persisted with a request for the adjournment motion.
“I received the notice. But I reject it. The matter can be discussed in another device,” Speaker Daimary said.
Justifying the adjournment motion, AIUDF member Aminul Islam said the matter is very urgent and it is good for the House to adjourn all other businesses and discuss the issue.
Joining the debate, Congress member Abdur Rashid Mandal also supported the motion and said the House should be allowed to discuss it.
Opposition leader Debabrata Saikia while extending a support to the motion said the four Congress MLAs of Goalpara and Dhubri districts have also right to speak on the issue.
AIUDF member Haji Rafikul Islam sought the ruling of the speaker on the issue.
This led the Speaker to adjourn the House for one hour, the second adjournment of the day.