19 legislators from Congress and AAP were suspended from the Gujarat Assembly. (Representational)
A total of 19 legislators from the opposition Congress and the AAP were suspended from the Gujarat Assembly for a day on Wednesday after they shouted slogans against the BJP government before walking out of the House over the issue of a fake trainee PSI found undergoing training at a state-run police training academy.
When Assembly Speaker Shankar Chaudhary rejected Congress' demand for a discussion on the issue on an urgent basis claiming that it is linked to the future of youths, 16 Congress MLAs and three from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), who were present in the House, staged a walkout as a mark of protest.
Gujarat Legislative and Parliamentary Affairs minister Rushikesh Patel moved a resolution for the suspension of these members for a day claiming that opposition MLAs raised placards and shouted slogans as a "pre-planned" strategy.
With the support of three independent MLAs, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government's resolution was passed, paving the way for the suspension of the 19 MLAs of the Congress and the AAP for a day for "creating ruckus, shouting slogans and walking out of the House".
On Tuesday, the office of the state Director General of Police (DGP) had announced that a person named Mayur Tadvi has been caught undergoing training as a trainee police sub-inspector (PSI) at the Police Training Academy in Karai village near Gandhinagar on forged documents.
Investigation conducted into the case so far has revealed that Tadvi prepared a forged letter of his selection as a PSI and entered the Karai-based academy a month back as a trainee. However, he was eventually caught after officials found that his name was not there in the list of selected candidates when salary bills for 582 trainees were being prepared.
Though the Congress had submitted a notice for discussion in the House on Tuesday under rule 116 of the Assembly, which deals with matter of "urgent public importance", senior party MLA Amit Chavda sought a discussion on Wednesday itself, calling the incident "serious" and saying that there may be many others who have gained entry into the academy through such illegal means.
Congress MLA Shailesh Parmar said though the party has given a notice for discussion under rule 116 and it may come up for discussion after some days, the state government can at least give an assurance to the House because the issue affects all the youths of Gujarat.
When Mr Chaudhary rejected their demand saying he cannot bypass the rules and he has to give at least two days to the concerned minister to come with his reply under rule 116, Congress MLAs started shouting slogans and waving placards demanding a discussion today itself alleging that the government is promoting corrupt practices.
They also sought resignation of Minister of State for Home, Harsh Sanghavi, and also sought an explanation from Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel.
In his response, Chief Minister Patel condemned Congress's demand and said his government is capable of curbing all kinds of illegal activities.
"The House is not meant for satisfying the wishes of a person or a party. Recently, as you have seen, we brought a law to curb paper leaks and also took part in the discussion. My government is capable of stopping all kinds of illegal activities. Our home minister has done great work for the youth, such as cracking down on drugs. Therefore, it is not proper to stand up in the House just to prove something," the Chief Minister said in the House.
Despite the Chief Minister's statement, Congress and AAP MLAs continued their protest and did not sit down despite the Speaker's repeated requests. They insisted that a discussion must be allowed today itself under any other rule if not permitted under 116.
When the demand was not accepted by the Speaker, opposition members walked out of the House, after which they were suspended.
In the 182-member Gujarat Assembly, the BJP has 156 MLAs, Congress 17 and AAP five.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)