The legislators took out the march from Opposition leader Debabrata Saikia’s official residence to the Assembly building’s gates.
They held placards that read “We Stand with Rahul Gandhi”; “Murder of Democracy Not Allowed”; “Rahul Gandhi Zindabad”; “Save Democracy”; “Save Constitution”, and “Dictatorship Not Allowed”.
Later, the Congress MLAs also took part in the Assembly proceedings in black clothes.
Taking a jibe at the Congress legislators, BJP minister Jayanta Mallabaruah posted on Twitter: “Interestingly, this scene reminds me of the once very popular series Shaktiman’s Tamraj Kilvish’s character and the Army of Darkness.”
Prashanta Phukan, a legislator of the ruling party, said: “A court has convicted Rahul Gandhi related to a defamation case. Neither the Central nor the state governments here had a role in that. The Congress party should have approached the higher court instead of causing chaos in the assembly.”
Meanwhile, Debabrata Saikia said: “The democracy and the Constitution are under threat in the BJP’s rule. B.R. Ambedkar once said that the Constitution of the country is very good, but it can be misused if it falls into the wrong hands. This is exactly what is happening now.”
He also questioned the manner in which Rahul Gandhi’s disqualification was “hurriedly issued soon after the conviction”.
“The law of the land is now different for the ruling party and Opposition members. A minister in Uttar Pradesh was disqualified one month after he was convicted. In Gujarat, another BJP minister stayed even after his conviction in a case three years earlier. However, Rahul Gandhi was disqualified from Lok Sabha overnight,” Saikia said.