Guwahati: A day after it accused the ruling
Congress government of indulging in horse-trading during
Friday's Rajya Sabha election, the Opposition today staged a
peaceful sit-in demonstration demanding dismissal of the Tarun
Gogoi government.
The entire Opppostion, save the four dissident BJP and two
AUDF MLAs, sat with placards in the main entrance of the Assam
assembly as soon as the House assembled in the morning.
Some of the placards read 'Save democracy', 'Democracy has
been murdered', 'Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi resign', 'Dismiss
Tarun Gogoi government', 'Disqualify the dissident MLAs'.
Opposition leader Chandra Mohan Patowary told reporters
that the sit-in protest was to save democracy in the state,
where allegedly "money politics had been introduced by the
Congress for the first time to win Rajya Sabha seats".
As Speaker Tanka Bahadur Rai did not allow the Opposition
a Point of Order in the Assembly yesterday to discuss the RS
poll issue, Patowary said today's protest was to inform the
public about "activities of the Congress government".
The four dissident BJP and one of the two AUDF MLAs who
voted in favour of the Congress, remained in the House and
participated in its proceedings. The other AUDF legislator was
absent.
However, no meaningful discussions could take place in
the Assembly today as the entire Opposition remained outside
participating in the sit-in.
The Opposition had yesterday stalled proceedings of the
assembly alleging that the ruling Congress had won both the RS
seats through money power and mafia to buy votes of four BJP
and two AUDF MLAs.
PTI
First Published: Tuesday, March 30, 2010, 18:03