50 Congress MLAs were suspended after protests inside Gujarat assembly.
50 Congress legislators were suspended for a day from the Gujarat Assembly after they stages a demonstration and disrupted the proceedings over the Una Dalit flogging incident.
During a discussion on Dalit atrocities, Congress members rushed to the floor of the assembly holding placards accusing the BJP government in the state of being "anti-Dalit." Some Congress legislators also threw bangles towards ministers in the assembly to protest alleged inaction.
Speaker Ramanlal Vora ordered the suspension of Congress legislators after they continued their protests despite repeated warnings. Congress legislators had to be forcibly evicted from the assembly with marshals forcing them out. Mr Vora remarked that the Congress had come with a pre-planned strategy to protest over Dalit atrocities, and were trying to get political mileage out of the issue instead of seriously discussing solutions to it.
Senior Congress leaders Shankersinh Vaghela, who is also the leader of the opposition, and Mohansinh Rathwa remained seated while their colleagues protested and escaped suspension. However both leaders later walked out to protest the suspension of Congress legislators by Mr Vora.
Earlier the assembly session had begun with a heated debate over the issue of violence against Dalits in Gujarat. Congress leader Raghavji Patel raised the issue of attacks on Dalits at Samter village on August 15 as a matter of urgent public interest, demanding a statement from the chief minister on the issue.
In his reply, Minister of State for Home Pradipsinh Jadeja said that the government was serious about protecting Dalits in the state and that the police had been issued orders to ensure zero tolerance to such incidents. On the attack in Samter, Mr Jadeja said 7 police personnel including one senior police officer was seriously injured while protecting Dalits.