Opposition Raijor Dal MLA Akhil Gogoi was on Wednesday suspended from the Assam Assembly for the day after repeatedly interrupting Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma during a discussion on the state budget.
Gogoi attempted to interrupt Sarma on several occasions while the chief minister was speaking.
Despite repeated requests by Speaker Ranjeet Kumar Dass to take his seat, the legislator continued to interject.
The Speaker ordered Gogoi’s suspension after he questioned the Chief Minister over Assam’s ranking in the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI).
Following his suspension, Gogoi staged a protest outside the Assembly wearing a black scarf as a mark of protest against the Speaker’s decision.
Speaking to reporters, Gogoi alleged that he was suspended for raising questions about poverty in Assam. He claimed he had referred to a NITI Aayog report which, according to him, placed Assam among the states with high multidimensional poverty.
Gogoi further argued that poverty could not be addressed through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) schemes alone and called for greater budgetary allocation and long-term planning to tackle the issue.
