GUWAHATI: The Assam Assembly on THursday witnessed noisy scenes during a discussion on the prevailing law and order situation in the state, with the government and Opposition trading charges over the issue.
The matter was raised in the House by ruling BJP legislator Terash Gowalla, citing a newspaper report that claimed of worsening law and order situation especially in the tea garden areas of eastern part of the state.
Parliamentary Affairs minister Chandra Mohan Patowary, replying on behalf of the Home minister, maintained that the situation was under control. He admitted that there are sporadic incidents, but sought to downplay it by stating that such incidents are routine.
Referring to the incidents mentioned by Gowalla, Patowary said banned militant group ULFA(I) was suspected to have been involved in those attacks. He further said the law and order situation was worse earlier, but the same has stabilized because of the efforts of the current BJP-led government.
He added that the current government’s ally Asom Gana Parishad’s (AGP) workers were targeted by militants in earlier times.
Taking umbrage of the comment, Opposition Congress MLA and former three-time CM Tarun Gogoi alleged that when the Congress had assumed power under him in 2001, the security situation was very bad.
The situation improved after 2006 and stabilized during the Congress rule between 2001 to 2016, he said, adding that Congress workers have been the most targeted lot by the militants.
Another Congress MLA Kamalakhya Dev Purkayastha asked the minister to furnish data on the security scenario.
Several Treasury bench members also engaged in exchanging words with the Opposition, leading to an uproarious scene.
Speaker Hitendra Nath Goswami, who rushed to assume Chair on hearing the commotion, urged the members to stay within the rules. He pointed that the matter of law and order situation was raised under Rule 54 of the Rules and Procedures for Conduct of Business in Assam Legislative Assembly, which did not allow for any discussion on the topic.
“However, I have been flexible in my approach and have allowed the members to place their views. But the matter should not be dragged,” Goswami added, signaling an end to the issue.