BJP, Congress members trade blows inside Gujarat Assembly; 3 MLAs suspended

AHMEDABAD: Members of the ruling BJP and opposition Congress came to blows inside the Gujarat Assembly on Wednesday prompting the chair to suspend three Congress legislators from the House.

The Assembly suspended Congress MLAs Pratap Dudhat and Amrish Der for three years and another Congress MLA Baldevji Thakor for a year, leading to protests by the Opposition.

Congress members hit BJP MLA Jagdish Panchal with the rod of a microphone and also punched him, following which the members of the ruling party assaulted Amrish Der of the opposition party.


The ruckus began when Speaker Rajendra Trivedi stopped Vikram Madam of the Congress from expressing his views during a discussion on an issue after the Question Hour. Madam, however, insisted that he would speak.

At that time, Der asked the speaker to allow Madam to speak.The speaker objected to his tone, following which Madam and Der rushed to the Well of the House in protest.

Trivedi then suspended both the Congress MLAs for the day and they were taken out of the Assembly by the marshals. This enraged Congress MLA Pratap Dudhat, who then attacked the BJP's Jagdish Panchal with a rod attached to a microphone.

Dudhat was angry with Panchal for asking Congress MLAs to remain silent when the speaker was making his point.

After the attack on Panchal, the speaker suspended Dudhat for the rest of the Budget Session. He then adjourned the House for 10 minutes. But in the meantime, Der entered the House from the back door and attacked Panchal.

The other BJP members present in the House came to Panchal's rescue and attacked Der. The marshals rushed in and brought the situation under control.