Ranchi: Jharkhand Assembly Speaker C P Singh today dared a Congress MLA to prove his charge that the House was being conducted at the behest of a handful of members. "Why are you raising an accusing finger at me always? Why don`t you prove your allegations in the house? Name the handful of people. Who are the sycophants, you say," Singh asked Congress MLA Chandrasekhar Dubey. The Speaker`s reaction came after Dubey alleged that the House was being conducted at the behest of "a handful of sycophant members". Dubey also claimed he was being deprived of raising issues pertaining to his constituency and delay in the reinstatement of employees in the Jamadava colliery in Dhanbad despite a labor ministry directive to the owning company. Tempers frayed when the Speaker was about to read three adjournment motions when Dubey intervened with a litany of `woes`, prompting Singh to say "you don`t deserve to be spoken to." Dubey, who had brought his charges through an adjournment motion, demanded that it be accepted. Deputy Chief Minister and JMM leader Hemant Soren remarked that it could be a transfer-posting matter for Dubey after the Congress MLA also raised the issue of shortage of block development officers and Circle officers in his Bishrampur constituency. On the other hand, five/six ruling MLAs came to the well demanding pension for those who participated in the statehood movement. Irked by the din, Singh adjourned the house till 2 pm. Pinning posters of their demands, JMM MLAs Lobin Hembrom, Jaiprakash Bhai Patel and AJSU legislators Umakant Razzak and Kamal Kishore Bhagat caused disruption of the House as soon as it convened.
PTI