Suspended Congress MLA stages dharna

Saluja who sat on a dharna near Mahatma Gandhi's statue said he was protesting the 'partisanship' of Speaker Pradip Kumar Amat for allegedly giving importance to ruling party members while ignoring the opposition.

"I have not used any unparliamentary word against the Speaker. I only said that he should work in an impartial manner upholding the dignity of the position he holds. The Speaker has been working at the behest of the ruling BJD," Saluja told reporters.

Saluja said he was denied permission to speak in the House while the Speaker allowed the BJD's deputy chief whip to raise certain issues.

Therefore, Saluja claimed, he suggested that the Speaker work in an impartial manner.

The Congress MLA's protest received support from a BJP member as well as from his own party.

"Saluja has not made any unparliamentary remark against the Speaker. Whatever he said is not considered unparliamentary or derogatory in western parts of the state," BJP member Jainarayan Mishra who joined Saluja's dharna for some time, told reporters.

Leader of the Opposition Bhupinder Singh of Congress supporting Saluja said, "We are with him. How can the Speaker allow a motion to be passed against a member when his partymen are not in the House?"

A section of Congress MLAs joined Saluja's protest while others including Singh participated in the House proceedings.

Saluja was suspended for seven days yesterday. The winter session of the assembly is scheduled to end on December 22.