Uproar in Tripura assembly as 5 MLAs suspended; Oppn stages walkout twice

The Tripura Assembly on Friday witnessed uproarious scenes as opposition members protested and walked out twice over the Speaker's decision to suspend five MLAs and not to allow a discussion on a ruling BJP MLA allegedly watching a pornographic clip inside the house in the last session.

As the opposition legislators protested in the well, Speaker Biswa Bandhu Sen suspended five of them for the day. It prompted the opposition members to stage a walkout.

Sen, however, withdrew the suspension order after some time following a request by Chief Minister Manik Saha.

The five MLAs returned to the House but insisted that action be taken against the ruling party MLA for his "misconduct". When the Speaker refused, the opposition walked out of the House for the second time.

CPI(M) legislator Nayan Sarkar, Congress member Sudip Roy Barman and three Tipra Motha MLAs - Brishaketu Debbarma, Nandita Reang and Ranjit Debbarma - were suspended for "creating disturbances" during the proceedings on the first day of the budget session.

Tipra Motha MLA Animesh Debbarma sought a discussion on the "misconduct" of BJP legislator Jadab Lal Nath who was allegedly found watching porn on his mobile phone inside the House earlier this year.

The incident happened when proceedings were underway in the assembly on the last day of the session on March 30, and a video clip of it had gone viral on social media. Nath had claimed that obscene videos started appearing on his phone as he received a call.

Animesh Debbarma wanted to bring an adjournment motion on the issue but the Speaker did not allow him to do so and asked Finance Minister Pranajit Singha Roy to place the state budget for the current fiscal.

Irked by the Speaker's decision, Tipra Motha lawmakers rushed to the wall, demanding a discussion on the Jadab Lal Nath issue. CPI(M) and Congress MLAs also joined the protest in the well as the finance minister continued the budget speech.

The Speaker asked the opposition members to return to their seats, hinting that he may reconsider the suspension order. However, they staged a walkout.

When the proceedings resumed after recess, the Speaker declared withdrawal of the suspension against the five MLAs following a proposal from the chief minister.

Joining the House, opposition leader Animesh Debbarma and Congress lawmaker Sudip Roy Barman welcomed the speaker's move of lifting the suspension but insisted on action against Jadab Lal Nath.

They urged the Speaker to bring at least a censure motion against the BJP MLA for his misdeed in the House but Sen did not pay heed to it.

All opposition members then walked out of the House again. They, however, joined the proceedings after some time.