Akhil Gogoi Suspended Amidst Flood Crisis Debate in Assam Assembly
High Tension in Assam Legislative Assembly
File image of Raijor Dal MLAs Akhil Gogoi staging a protest on the first day of the Budget session, in Guwahati. (Photo:PTI)
Guwahati, July 23: A dramatic scene unfolded in the Assam Legislative Assembly on Thursday as the urgent need for a discussion regarding the severe flooding in Upper Assam led to the suspension of Raijor Dal leader and Sibsagar MLA Akhil Gogoi. This occurred after a heated exchange with Speaker Ranjit Kumar Dass.
The incident took place on the tenth day of the ongoing Budget Session when Gogoi attempted to invoke Rule 56 of the Assembly Rules to halt regular proceedings and address the flood crisis impacting Charaideo, Sivasagar, and Jorhat districts.
Things escalated when the Speaker indicated that Gogoi had exceeded his speaking time.
During their confrontation, Dass labeled the legislator a "traitor" and noted that Gogoi had spoken for two minutes and 44 seconds, surpassing the two minutes allocated to him.
The Speaker justified Gogoi's suspension due to what he termed “disorderly conduct,” the chaos in the Assembly, and a “breach of trust” with the Chair.
As protests grew louder within the Assembly, Dass decided to suspend Gogoi for the rest of the day's session.
After the session, Gogoi spoke to reporters, defending his actions by stating he felt compelled to protest after being interrupted while discussing what he called an unprecedented humanitarian crisis in Upper Assam.
"I pleaded with the Assembly to suspend all other business under Rule 56 to address the catastrophic floods in Charaideo, Sivasagar, and Jorhat. I had only spoken for about one-and-a-half minutes when Minister Pijush Hazarika urged the Speaker to silence me," Gogoi explained.
He emphasized that remaining silent would have been "a grave sin," as he had been engaging with families affected by the floods and felt it was his responsibility to voice their struggles in the Assembly.
Gogoi called for the Assembly to officially recognize the floods as a natural disaster and to request increased financial support from the central government for the impacted areas.
"I wanted the Assembly and the state government to acknowledge this disaster as a natural calamity. Before I could finish my appeal, I was interrupted," he stated.
During his remarks in the Assembly, Gogoi pointed out the dire flood situation, reporting that 28 bodies had been recovered in Nazira, based on information from Nazira MLA Mayur Borgohain.
He also claimed that significant portions of his constituency were under knee-deep water and that approximately 100 individuals were missing in Bihubor Panchayat, highlighting the urgent need for legislative action.
The flood crisis in Assam remained severe on Thursday, with the death toll reaching 41 and over 650,000 individuals affected across 11 districts.