The first day of the Assam Assembly's Budget Session saw high political drama on Monday as opposition parties sat down for a few minutes before Speaker Ranjeet Kumar Dass refused to make three adjournment motions to talk about frequent power outages, declining enrolment in government schools and the alleged pushback of suspected illegal immigrants.
Members of the Congress, All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF), Raijor Dal and Trinamool Congress (TMC) protested the Speaker's decision by raising slogans, displaying placards and entering the Well of the House before walking out in protest. But the legislators returned soon after and participated in the rest of the Assembly proceedings.
Opposition Raises Public Issues
The Leader of the Opposition Wajed Ali Choudhury had moved an adjournment motion highlighting recurring power cuts across Assam. Long-term electricity outages in the summer months had caused widespread inconvenience to residents and the government's assurance of uninterrupted power supply was not being felt in reality on the ground, he said.
Akhil Gogoi, MLA for Raijor Dal, called for an adjournment motion on the declining enrolment in government schools. He cited data from the Union Education Ministry that showed that student enrolment had fallen steadily in the last four years and told the Assembly to discuss what he said was an important public issue.
At the same time, AIUDF legislator Mazibur Rahman filed another adjournment motion on the alleged pushback of illegal immigrants to Bangladesh. He also alleged that some genuine Indian citizens had been affected in the process and expressed concern over missing inmates from the Goalpara detention centre.
Speaker Rejects Motions
In denying the motions, Speaker Ranjeet Kumar Dass said that although the notices presented by the Congress and Raijor Dal had dealt with significant public issues, they did not justify suspending the scheduled business of the House.
He said members will have sufficient opportunity to raise the issues via other parliamentary procedures during the current Budget Session.
That AIUDF’s motion was submitted after the specified deadline, said the Speaker. He also said that the matter had already been raised separately under Rule 54 so an adjournment motion would be unnecessary.
Protest Inside the House
Following the rejection of the motions, opposition members entered the Well of the House, displayed placards and raised slogans against the government.
Speaker Dass reminded legislators that placards in the Assembly were prohibited under House rules. The placards were taken out of the protesting members' hands by Assembly marshals.
The demonstration lasted only a short time before the opposition walked out.
Proceedings Resume
After their protest, opposition legislators returned to the Assembly and participated in the remainder of the day.
The brief disruption was a contentious start to the Budget Session, opposition parties indicated that issues of electricity supply, the condition of government schools and issues of pushback operations will remain central to confrontation with the state government in the days to come.
