GUWAHATI: The Opposition Congress on Thursday staged a walk-out in Assam Legislative Assembly protesting Speaker Hitendra Nath Goswami’s refusal to permit a discussion on admissibility of an adjournment motion moved by the party over the prevailing law and order situation in the state.
Talking to media outside the House, the leader of the Opposition and Congress legislator, Debabrata Saikia said, “My fellow legislator Abdul Khaleque had sought to move an adjournment motion to discuss the law and order situation, especially in the wake of Wednesday’s murder of a businessman in Guwahati city. As per convention, we thought the Speaker will allow us to speak on the admissibility of the motion after the Question Hour.”
“However, he did not give us any opportunity to speak and dismissed the motion. As a mark of protest, the Congress has staged a walk out,” he added.
Expressing anguish at not being allowed to speak, Congress MLA Khaleque said, “Whether the adjournment motion is allowed or not, it is a different matter. But the Speaker did not allow us to even speak for the admissibility of the motion. This has never been the case earlier.”
Khaleque pointed that security was an important issue and there had been recurring instances of attacks, the latest being on Wednesday when a businessman was shot dead by unidentified assailants in busy Hatigaon area of the city.
“We felt it was a pertinent issue, but sadly, we were not given any chance to raise our points,” he added.