Congress MLAs suspended in Himachal Assembly row
CHANDIGARH: Five Congress MLAs, including Leader of Opposition Mukesh Agnihotri, were suspended from the Himachal Pradesh Assembly on Friday. There were unruly scenes when some legislators tried to block Governor Bandaru Dattatraya and his cavalcade when they were leaving the Assembly premises after he delivered his address on the opening day of the budget session.
The Congress MLAs stood in Dattatraya’s way and his official vehicle after he walked out of the Assembly. Both BJP and Congress traded allegations of manhandling and assault during the commotion. The House then decided unanimously to suspend Congress MLAs Agnihotri, Harsh Vardhan Chauhan, Sunder Singh Thakur, Satpal Raizada and Vinay Kumar.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Suresh Bhardwaj said the MLAs insulted the Constitution and manhandled his aide-de-camp and others. When the governor was reading his speech, Agnihotri stood up and said he made no mention of price rise, unemployment and other important issues. As Congress MLAs tried to disrupt his address, Dattatraya ended his speech and said it may be considered as read. Agnihotri alleged that Congress MLAs were manhandled.