17 JMM MLAs suspended for wearing black mask

Assembly Speaker Dinesh Oraon on Tuesday suspended 17 Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) legislators for wearing black mask inside the House.

JMM legislator Amit Mahto first waved a black handkerchief from his seat. Later, the party legislators covered their face with black masks.

The JMM and other opposition parties have been demanding action against Chief Secretary Rajbala Verma and Director General of Police D.K. Pandey right since the start of the budget session on February 17.

Condemning the incident, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Saryu Rai said: "This act has lowered the dignity of the Assembly and the legislators should be suspended."

After this, Speaker Dinesh Oraon, who was himself upset, suspended the MLAs for one day. In protest, JMM, Congress and Jharkhand Morcha-Prajatantrik boycotted the House.

Chief Minister Raghubar Das, who is also in charge of the Finance Ministry, tabled the 2018-19 budget and read out its contents in the absence of opposition members.

--IANS

ns/nir/mr