Opposition stages walkout in Assam Assembly after Speaker rejects adjournment motions

The opposition staged a walkout in the Assam Assembly on Monday, July 6, after Speaker Ranjeet Kumar Dass rejected three adjournment motions seeking discussions on power outages, declining enrolment in government schools and the alleged pushback of suspected illegal immigrants.

On the opening day of the Budget Session, members of the Congress, AIUDF, Raijor Dal and TMC protested the Speaker's decision, raising slogans and entering the Well of the House before briefly walking out.

Leader of the Opposition Wajed Ali Choudhury moved an adjournment motion on frequent power cuts, claiming that prolonged outages had caused hardship to people during the ongoing summer and alleging that uninterrupted electricity supply, as claimed by the government, was not being provided.

Raijor Dal MLA Akhil Gogoi sought a discussion on the decline in student enrolment in government schools, citing data from the Union Education Ministry that, he claimed, showed a drop in enrolment over the past four years. He urged the House to discuss the issue as a matter of public importance.

AIUDF legislator Mazibur Rahman sought an adjournment motion over the alleged pushback of suspected illegal immigrants to Bangladesh. He alleged that, in some cases, genuine Indian citizens had also been pushed back and raised concerns over reported disappearances of inmates from the detention centre in Goalpara.

Rejecting the motions, Speaker Dass said the notices submitted by the Congress and Raijor Dal related to public issues but were not of such an urgent nature as to warrant suspension of the House's scheduled business. He said the matters could be discussed through other parliamentary procedures during the Budget Session.

On the AIUDF's notice, the Speaker said it had been submitted after the prescribed deadline and that the issue had already been raised separately under Rule 54, making an adjournment motion unnecessary.

Following the rejection, opposition legislators displayed placards and raised slogans inside the House. The Speaker reminded members that such protests were not permitted under the Assembly rules, following which House marshals removed the placards.

The opposition members later returned to the House after staging a brief walkout.