The Congress Legislature Party filed the complaint for breach of privilege with the Principal Secretary of the Assembly, after which the Chief Minister withdrew his comments inside the Assembly.
The Congress Legislative party on Wednesday filed a complaint against the Chief Minister of the state Himanta Biswa Sarma after the latter’s remarks during a debate surrounding Rahul Gandhi’s disqualification issue. The Congress Legislature Party filed the complaint for breach of privilege with the Principal Secretary of the Assembly, after which the Chief Minister withdrew his comments inside the Assembly.
However, the grand old party is yet to take down the privilege notice and is demanding an apology from the Chief Minister instead of withdrawing the statement. The complaint letter of Assam Congres said, “in the Assembly Himanta Biswa Sarma stated that he knows about all the talks held in the Assam Congress Legislature Party ( ACLP) room.
Further, the CM also stated that some members of ACLP have informed him about the decisions taken in the CLP meeting which took place on 28th March 2023”, the letter was signed by over 20 Congress MLAs
Speaking to the reporters the leader of the opposition of the Assam Assembly said, “ We the members of ACLP feel that this is a false statement by the leader of the House. So, we members of ACLP bring a Breach of Privilege against Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma”. We argue the principal secretary to take up the notice for further action according to law”.
Earlier on Wednesday, the Assembly witnessed a ruckus after the Congress brought in an Adjournment Motion to discuss the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi from the lower house following the verdict of the Surat Court.
The opposition leader Debabrata Saikia introduced the notice and said: “ We want to send a resolution to the President of India requesting her to uphold the constitution. The constitution is the same for all and the executive must act fairly to protect it”.
Replying to the motion brought in by the Congress Party, the CM said, “ It’s unfortunate that we’re expressing opinions on a judicial matter here. I am aware that a decision was taken in the CLP last night to create a ruckus in the Assembly.” Deputy Leader of CLP Rakibul Hussain protested against the statement of the Chief Minister.
Later, Mr. Sarma withdrew the part of his claim that someone from the opposition had informed him about their talks that were held Tuesday at the residence of the Opposition Leader. When the media persons asked a Congress MLA, whether they will withdraw the notice or not he said, “ That was a very serious allegation by the Chief Minister. It has put a bad mark on our party. We want an apology from him”.
Following high drama in the house, speaker Biswajit Daimary was forced to adjourn the house twice, and he suspended three MLAs which includes two from Congress and one independent for the entire day.
What is a Privilege Motion?
A privilege motion is a type of notice which is moved by a member when he feels that a minister or any member of the house has conducted a breach of privilege of the house or one or more of its members by withholding facts of a case or by giving wrong distorted facts.
The members of Parliament and Assembly are granted certain privileges on an individual and collective level so they perform their duties well. But if any member misuses any of these rights, it is seen as a breach of privilege and is accountable for punishment under the laws enforced by the Parliament.