Ranchi: Chaos erupted again on the fifth day of the monsoon session of the Jharkhand Assembly on Thursday. As soon as the session began in the morning, BJP legislators created a commotion. Consequently, Assembly Speaker Ravindra Mahato suspended 18 BJP legislators from the session for two days, until August 2 at 2 pm.
The suspended members are Viranchi Narayan, Anant Ojha, Randhir Singh, Naveen Jaiswal, Narayan Das, Kedar Hazra, Kishun Das, CP Singh, Amit Mandal, Kocha Munda, Bhanu Pratap Shahi, Shashibhushan Mehta, Alok Chaurasia, Pushpa Devi, Neera Yadav, Aparna Sengupta, Raj Sinha and Samri Lal. Speaker Mahato cited the legislators’ failure to adhere to House’s decorum, disrespect to the assembly and contempt as reasons for their suspension.
Following this, Speaker adjourned the proceedings until 12:30 pm.Opposition leader Amar Bauri condemned the suspension as an attack on democracy. He alleged that the Speaker acted inappropriately under the influence of the ruling party and accused the government of becoming autocratic. Bauri also claimed that journalists were previously barred from entering the House.
Sudesh Mahato of the AJSU requested the Speaker to reconsider the suspension of legislators to ensure smooth functioning of the House. BJP legislator Neelkanth Munda also protested, questioning why he was not suspended despite being part of the protest.
Amar Bauri criticized the Speaker, stating that anyone facing punishment should be heard first. He said that in the past, even when the Speaker was subjected to physical abuse and property was damaged, no suspension occurred. He asserted that the right to protest is constitutionally guaranteed and that they were questioning the government’s promises.
The opposition legislators remained in the assembly since yesterday, protesting outside the House with placards demanding answers about job creation, permanent positions for police and home guard personnel and unemployment benefits. They accused Chief Minister Hemant Soren of failing to address their concerns and allegedly removing their right to protest.
On the previous day of the monsoon session, BJP legislators had staged a sit-in inside the assembly over issues related to employment and unemployment benefits. After the session ended, they continued their protest on the assembly premises. Subsequently, electricity and water supply to the complex were cut off, and marshals forcibly removed legislators late at night. The legislators spent the night in the lobby and broadcast the events live on social media, claiming that their right to protest was being undermined by the Soren government.