Assam Congress MLA suspended from assembly, removed by marshals

Assam Assembly Speaker Hitendra Nath Goswami on Tuesday suspended Congress MLA Rupjyoti Kurmi for the day for raising the issue of land encroachment by Nagaland before the start of the Question Hour and he was forcefully removed from the House by marshals.

However, the Speaker later revoked his decision after the Leader of the Opposition Debabrata Saikia requested him to allow Kurmi to attend the proceedings.

As soon as the House assembled for the day, Kurmi stood up and claimed that land was encroachment in his constituency Mariani by the people of Nagaland.

Goswami repeatedly asked the Congress leader to sit down and raise the topic after the Question Hour and this led to a noisy scene.

As Kurmi did not obey his order, the Speaker suspended him for the day and ordered marshals to take him out of the House.

Two marshals then forcibly pulled Kurmi out of his seat and took him outside the House.

After the Question Hour, Saikia urged the Speaker to allow Kurmi to return for joining the discussion on the cut motion on revenue and disaster management.

"I wanted him to speak, but after the Question Hour. Encroachment by Nagaland is a serious issue. But he was so adamant that I had no other option," Goswami said and sought the opinion of Parliamentary Affairs Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary on the matter.

Patowary said that everyone should respect and follow the rules of the House.

"The Leader of the Opposition has requested for his entry into the House. I think it can be considered," he added.

After this, Goswami allowed Kurmi to return to the House. The Congress legislator then came and sat on his seat.

The Assam government on Monday informed the assembly that the state has faced 56 instances of land encroachment by neighbouring states such as Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Mizoram in 2020.