Madhya Pradesh Assembly adjourned till Mar 13 amid BJP-Congress tussle over MLA suspension, no-confidence proposal against Speaker

The Budget session of the Madhya Pradesh Assembly was on Friday adjourned till March 13 amid a tussle between the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and Congress MLAs on the suspension of an opposition MLA and calls for the Speaker to stay away from the proceedings due to a no confidence proposal against him.

As soon as the Assembly convened for the day, Leader of Opposition and Congress MLA Govind Singh wanted to know fate of the no confidence proposal moved by his party against Speaker Girish Gautam over the suspension of MLA Jitu Patwari on Thursday.

In reply, MP Parliamentary Affairs minister Narottam Mishra said it was he who had moved the proposal for Patwari's suspension and that the Speaker acted as per rules once it was passed by voice vote.

Meanwhile, Congress MLAs Sajjan Singh Verma and Kunal Chaudhary said Gautam should refrain from being part of the proceedings due to the proposal of no-confidence against him.

In the meantime, Mishra flung a book detailing rules and regulations of running the House, which elicited protests from the Congress, with opposition MLA Vijay Laxmi Sadhoo rushing to the Well of the House and his colleagues saying Mishra's act was unbecoming.

The House was adjourned for some time and after it reconvened, Congress MLAs continued claiming Mishra was disrespecting Babasaheb Ambedkar, under whom the Constitution was drafted, by throwing the rule book at the LoP.

Singh sought the suspension of Mishra and alleged BJP MLAs were acting in this manner to ensure the Budget session is curtailed. Several Congress MLAs then trooped into the Well of the House, one of them also tearing a book.

Amid the ruckus, Speaker Gautam completed the listed business for the day and adjourned the House till March 13.