50 Guj Cong MLAs walk out of assembly

AHMEDABAD: GUJARAT ASSEMBLY SPEAKER SUSPENDED AROUND 15 CONGRESS MLAS FOR A DAY

AFTER THEY PROTESTED AGAINST BJP

Gujarat assembly speaker Rajendra Trivedi suspended around 15 Congress MLAs for a day on Wednesday after they sat in the well and shouted slogans against the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over Value Added Tax (VAT) being charged on fuel.

Besides these, another Congress MLA was suspended for two days by the Speaker. Following the suspension and eviction, nearly 50 other Congress MLAs staged a walkout. Earlier during the Question Hour, Congress MLA Vimal Chudasama sought details about the VAT and asked if the government plans to reduce the tax for relief to the people.

In his reply, deputy chief minister Nitin Patel said the government charges 20% VAT on fuel.

He then compared Congressruled states like Punjab and Karnataka with Gujarat and claimed both these states charge 28 and 30% tax respectively. Irked by the comparison, Leader of Opposition Paresh Dhanani asked Patel to stick to Gujarat. When Speaker Trivedi stopped him from making further comments, all Congress MLAs started shouting slogans.

As around 15 Congress MLAs sat in the well, the speaker first suspended them for the day. While the MLAs were walking out of the House, the Speaker took a serious note of Congress’ Unjha MLA Asha Patel’s sloganeering. Trivedi termed the words “BJP Hooligans” said by Asha Patel derogatory and suspended her for two days.