Rahul disqualification: 16 MLAs of Congress suspended till end of Gujarat budget session after ruckus

On Monday, all MLAs of Congress entered the Gujarat Assembly wearing black clothes as a mark of protest against Gandhi's disqualification.

Published: 27th March 2023 07:03 PM  |   Last Updated: 27th March 2023 07:04 PM   |  A+A-

Congress supporters during the party's 'Satyagraha' against the disqualification of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi from the Lok Sabha, in New Delhi on Sunday. (Photo | Parveen Negi, EPS)

By PTI

GANDHINAGAR: As many as 16 of 17 MLAs of Congress were suspended from the Gujarat Assembly on Monday for the remainder of the Budget session till March 29 for creating ruckus and staging protests in the House over the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi as an MP.

Some MLAs of the main Opposition party, including Imran Khedawala, Geniben Thakor and Amrtutji Thakor, were evicted by marshals as they sat in the well of the House and refused to go back to their seats despite repeated appeals made by Speaker Shankar Chaudhary.

Except for Anant Patel, the rest 16 MLAs of Congress were present in the House on Monday.

As soon as the question hour began, Congress Legislative Party leader Amit Chavda demanded a discussion on the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi from Lok Sabha claiming he had been "silenced by the BJP government" for raising the issues concerning people.

Gandhi was disqualified as an MP after a court in Surat convicted him on March 23 in a 2019 criminal defamation case over his "Modi surname" remark and sentenced him to jail for two years.

On Monday, all MLAs of Congress entered the Gujarat Assembly wearing black clothes as a mark of protest against Gandhi's disqualification.

Speaker Shankar Chaudhary asked Chavda to sit down, saying no discussion is allowed during question hour and asked him to raise the issue later.

At this point, other MLAs of Congress rushed near the well and started raising slogans saying "Modi-Adani Bhai Bhai".

They also showed placards and photos linking PM Narendra Modi and Gautam Adani.

When all the 16 MLAs refused to stop sloganeering and trooped into the well, Chaudhary warned the Opposition against wasting "people's time".

READ MORE: 

United Opposition takes govt head on over Rahul’s disqualification

Disqualified because PM Modi was scared of my next speech on Adani: Rahul

Martyred PM's son who walked for national unity can never insult country: Priyanka

As the MLAs stayed put, the Speaker suspended them for a day and asked marshals to evict those lawmakers who refused to go out and continued to sit in the well area.

After the end of the question hour, state Legislative and Parliamentary Affairs minister Rushikesh Patel slammed Congress for the chaos and moved a motion to suspend all of them till the end of the ongoing Budget session on March 29.

"Despite knowing that the subject they were raising was not of Gujarat, these Congress members created chaos and raised slogans as a pre-planned strategy. They misled the people of Gujarat through this. Thus, we request you to suspend them till the end of the session," said Patel.

Ministers Balwantsinh Rajput and Raghavji Patel also supported Patel's proposal for a harsher punishment.

The motion moved by Patel was unanimously passed after Aam Aadmi Party MLAs did not raise any objection.

"These Congress MLAs came wearing black clothes and raised slogans. I requested them not to engage in such activity. Thus, as per rule 52 of the Assembly, I hereby suspend all those MLAs who staged protests and raised slogans in the House," said Chaudhary.

Subsequently, Congress MLAs were suspended for the remainder of the Budget session by voice vote.



Comments

Disclaimer : We respect your thoughts and views! But we need to be judicious while moderating your comments. All the comments will be moderated by the newindianexpress.com editorial. Abstain from posting comments that are obscene, defamatory or inflammatory, and do not indulge in personal attacks. Try to avoid outside hyperlinks inside the comment. Help us delete comments that do not follow these guidelines.

The views expressed in comments published on newindianexpress.com are those of the comment writers alone. They do not represent the views or opinions of newindianexpress.com or its staff, nor do they represent the views or opinions of The New Indian Express Group, or any entity of, or affiliated with, The New Indian Express Group. newindianexpress.com reserves the right to take any or all comments down at any time.

flipboard facebook twitter whatsapp