Speaker adjourns House after ruckus over Rahul issue

Bhubaneswar: Congress MLAs created a ruckus in the assembly on Friday alleging the hurried disqualification of party MP Rahul Gandhi from Parliament barely 24 hours after a court judgment was undemocratic and politically motivated.Congress members jumped into the well of the House raising slogans against the central government, forcing speaker Bikram Keshari Arukha to adjourn the assembly first for 20 minutes, again for 30 minutes in the post-lunch session and then for the day. Speaking to reporters outside the assembly, Congress legislature party leader Narasingha Mishra said while the manner in which Rahul was convicted in a defamation case will certainly be challenged in the higher courts, the tearing hurry shown to disqualify him smacks of political motives. “We protested against it in the House. The Congress will protest against such undemocratic action across the country,” he said. In another development, Congress workers staged a protest against the action on Rahul on Mahatma Gandhi Marg here. Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee president Sarat Pattanayak said the entire party stands firmly behind senior leader Rahul who is being targeted by the BJP government for speaking fearlessly in and outside Parliament. State revenue and disaster management minister and senior BJD leader Pramila Mallik declined to comment on the issue, saying the action has been taken following a court order. “We would not like to comment on the same,” she said.