18 Jharkhand BJP MLAs suspended from assembly, oppn says 'black day' for democracy

RANCHI: Eighteen Jharkhand BJP MLAs were on Thursday suspended from the assembly for a day and subsequently removed by marshals after they refused to leave the House.

Speaker Rabindra Nath Mahto acted against the BJP legislators after they caused a disruption in the House in protest against the eviction of opposition MLAs by marshals the previous day and Chief Minister Hemant Soren's "refusal" to address their questions.

Leader of the Opposition Amar Kumar Bauri alleged that a "dictatorship" was prevailing in Jharkhand and claimed that action was taken against BJP legislators at the behest of the JMM-led government.

Several BJP MLAs spent Wednesday night in the assembly lobby after marshals evicted them from the well of the House. They had been protesting Soren's alleged refusal to answer their questions on key issues, including employment.

Much before the House proceedings were scheduled to begin at 11 AM on Thursday, BJP legislators entered the well of the House, raising slogans demanding the resignation of Soren. During the protest, they were also seen tearing documents, which led to heated arguments between members of the ruling and opposition parties.

As chaos continued after the House assembled, Mahto suspended 18 of the 20 BJP legislators till 2pm on Friday. When they refused to leave even after being suspended, he sought the help of marshals to remove the opposition members.

The Speaker said the Assembly Ethics Committee will probe the matter and submit a report to him within a week. He then adjourned the House till 12.30 pm.

BJP legislators told reporters outside the assembly that democracy was "murdered" by the Speaker at the behest of the JMM-led government.

Bauri claimed that Thursday's act showed that the state government has turned into a dictator. "We requested the government to reply to questions on issues related to people. What happened is an attempt to suppress the voice of opposition MLAs," he said.

When the House re-assembled at 12.30 pm, Bauri said, "You suspended our 18 MLAs without hearing their side. We have seen in this House that shoes were thrown at Speaker, chairs and microphones were uprooted but no one was suspended. We did not break chairs...We also want to know why the House became hostile. We have the right to protest."

"We just wanted to know why the promises made by the government were not fulfilled, why Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma was not allowed to visit Gopinathpur. We understand, these turn of events took place under pressure from the government. We were sitting here yesterday and when you ordered, we left the House, we went to the lobby but power was cut and women marshals were sent to evict us," he added.

Terming it as a "black day" in democracy, Bauri said, "Bhagat Singh hurled a bomb at the British Parliament to draw the attention of the rulers towards his demands. We did not indulge in any such act. We followed Mahatma Gandhi's Ahimsa's route but the JMM-led alliance could not digest it."

Bauri and Neelkanth Munda who were not suspended then staged a walkout.

Ajsu Party chief Sudesh Mahto urged the Speaker to reconsider the decision to suspend 18 MLAs.

He said the matter could have been placed before the Business Advisory Committee before such an extreme step.

The speaker replied, "There is a limit to toleration. Everyone has the right to disagree but disagreement had turned into aggression here and they have crossed the boundary."

Following that, proceedings continued for a little over half-an-hour before the Speaker adjourned the House till 11 AM on Friday.

During the day, the Assembly passed a resolution opposing the amendment to the Coal Bearing Areas (Acquisition and Development) Act, 1957, labeling it as detrimental to the state and its people.

Rameshwar Oraon, Minister in Charge of Mining and Geology, tabled the resolution, which was approved by a voice vote and will be sent to the central government.

Oraon criticised the amendment for removing the timeline on mining leases, which he said would prevent the state from collecting additional revenues for lease extensions.

He also argued that the proposed changes to Sections 13 and 7 of the original Act would infringe on landowners' rights and contradict the state government's commitment to "jal, jungle, jameen" (water, forest, and land).

Outside the assembly, Opposition Leader Amar Kumar Bauri accused the government of undemocratic practices, claiming that the electricity was cut off and access to toilets was blocked for the opposition.

He asserted that such actions would be met with a strong response from the public in the upcoming elections.

"We will uproot this government. Electricity was cut off, we were stopped from going to toilets by the government yesterday. People are watching and they would give a befitting reply to the JMM," he added.

The assembly elections in the state are due later this year.

The opposition BJP and AJSU Party MLAs were evicted by marshals from the House to the lobby late last night after they refused to budge from the Well even after the Assembly was adjourned around 3 pm.

Several BJP legislators slept on bed covers and blankets on the floor of the lobby near the entrance of the assembly building on Wednesday night.