4 MLAs injured as BJP, Cong clash over farmers’ suicides

Four MLAs, including a woman BJP minister, were injured when a clash broke out inside the Gujarat assembly between opposition Congress and the ruling party members during the budget session proceedings on Thursday.

Speaker Ramanlal Vora had to adjourn proceedings after the violent showdown. With no cameras or mobile phones being allowed inside the House, both the parties blamed each other.

The chaos reportedly began when Congress MLA Paresh Dhanani raised the issue of farmer suicides in the state.

The MLAs reportedly dislodged microphones and damaged other interiors of the House.

While the BJP accused Congress MLA Baldev Thakor of hitting minister of state for women and child welfare Nirmala Wadhwani, the Congress maintained it was BJP MLAs Praful Pansuriya and Kanti Amrutiya who launched an attack in which the leader was hurt.

“The act of Thakor has been captured on CCTV cameras. While marshals tried to control him, he came rushing and hit Wadhwani. In the process, two other MLAs were also injured,” said deputy chief minister Nitin Patel.

“They (BJP) should have allowed live telecast of Assembly proceedings. But it is being not done. The CCTV footages will reveal that not a single Congress MLA attacked anyone. Instead, Pansuriya and Amrutiya used unparliamentarily language and in the chaos Thakor was injured,” said Congress MLA and national spokesperson Shaktisinh Gohil.

“To divert attention from real issues like gang rape by BJP men, suicide by farmers and unemployment being raised by the Congress, the BJP stoop to such a low level,” he added.

In its bid to corner the BJP, Congress has been on the offensive from the first day of the budget session on various issues, including the Naliya gang rape of a 24-year-old married woman in which BJP workers are among the accused.