Eighteen BJP MLAs were suspended from the assembly till 2 p.m. of August 2 and were marshalled out after they refused to leave the House on Wednesday.
Speaker Rabindra Nath Mahto took action against the BJP members, who had been protesting since Wednesday against Chief Minister Hemant Soren for not replying to their questions in the House. The Speaker suspended them for disrupting House proceedings even on Thursday. Sources said that this is for the first time in Jharkhand Assembly’s history that such a large number of MLAs from Opposition camp have been suspended from House.
The MLAs who have been suspended include Anant Ojha, Raj Sinha, Neera Yadav, Kishun Das, CP Singh, Kedar Hazra, Aparna Sengupta, Biranchi Narayan, Samri Lal, Navin Jaiswal, Shashi Bhushan Mehta, Pushpa Devi, Narayan Das, Koche Munda, Bhanu Pratap Shahi and Amit Mandal.
Speaker Mahto took the decision to suspend the BJP lawmakers on Thursday morning, as the House commenced, the BJP MLAs who were protesting against the State Government since Wednesday continued their protests raising their demand to seek an answer from Chief Minister Hemant Soren on various issues. Members of the ruling and opposition parties were seen exchanging heated arguments before the start of the session.
Later, JMM MLA Sudivya Sonu, moved a proposal to act against the protesting MLAs for ‘taking the House to ransom’. Acting immediately on the proposal of JMM MLAs, the Speaker suspended all 18 MLAs staging protests in the House till 2 pm on Friday.
The saffron party legislators misbehaved with male and female marshals and flouted norms by uploading videos on social media platforms from inside the House, Mahto told reporters after the Assembly was adjourned till Friday.
"I am deeply saddened by the conduct of BJP MLAs. It is a black day in the 24 years of Jharkhand's history," he said.
Leader of the Opposition Amar Bauri alleged that dictatorship prevails in Jharkhand.
According to NDA MLAs, this is the last session of the fifth Jharkhand Assembly and the Chief Minister wants to avoid questions from the opposition.
Notably, the Jharkhand assembly witnessed an unprecedented scene yesterday when the BJP MLAs, seeking answers from Chief Minister Hemant Soren on various issues, trooped into the well and remained there even as Speaker Rabindra Nath Mahto adjourned the House.
When the proceedings of the House started after the lunch break, Leader of Opposition Amar Kumar Bauri raised the issue of the announcement made by Hemant Soren. Bauri said that the Chief Minister will have to answer all the issues of Jharkhand inside the House today, including Para Teachers, Assistant Policemen, MGNREGA workers, Anganwadi Sevika Sahayika, Cook, Poshan Sakhi, Jal Sahia, ANM/ GNM, Home Guard, Panchayat Sevak, Computer Operator, Data Operator, Vocational Trained Teacher, Non-Gazetted Employees, Land Protector JE, Divyaangjan, JSLPS, Municipality Safai Karamchari, BRP-CRP, regularisation of all contract workers, unemployment allowance, local policy, JSSC scam, JPSC scam.
