Suspension order on Cong MLAs lifted in Tripura

AGARTALA, March 2: The five-day deadlock over proceedings in Tripura Assembly showed signs of ending today as Speaker Jiten Sarkar withdrew the suspension order slapped on three Congress legislators for unruly conduct in the House yesterday. The Congress has been demanding that inspector-general of police (intelligence) Kishore Jha be reprimanded for his alleged misconduct with Congress MLAs in the House on February 23. Yesterday, three MLAs, Sudip Roy Barman, Ratan Lal Nath and Dipak Roy, were suspended after they accused the Speaker of being "chieftain of dacoits" and threw potatoes and rotten eggs at him. Despite withdrawal of the suspension order, the three legislators could not attend the day's session because of a "communication gap". With the entire Congress bench staying away, the day's proceedings began quietly with Chief Minister Manik Sarkar bringing in a motion to withdraw the suspension order passed by the Speaker on the three Congress legislators. The motion was passed unanimously and Sarkar ruled that the suspension stood withdrawn. The officers from the Chief Minister's office called on the three MLAs at their homes and apprised them of the withdrawal of the suspension order. But the legislators maintained that they would not attend the House without being aware of the business to be transacted on the day. By the time the relevant papers reached the MLAs, it was 2 pm and they did not come to the House. However, leader of the Opposition Jawhar Saha hinted that the Assembly would function only five days (Monday to Friday) from next Monday, indicating that things would be normal. Saha said he had sought the intervention of Lok Sabha Speaker GMC Balayogi into the impasse. Sources in the Assembly said following a plea made in the House by veteran Congress MLA Ashok Bhattacharya for ending the deadlock, Sarkar called a meeting with the Congress legislators. Parliamentary affairs minister Keshav Mazumder, Congress MLAs Ashok Bhattacharya, Birajit Sinha and the leader of the Opposition attended the meeting. The meeting resolved that the Congress Legislature Party will treat the "issue of IGP Kishore Jha's" assault on them as closed in the spirit of "forgive and forget" and the suspension order on the three MLAs would be withdrawn. Sarkar, accompanied by Mazumder and Congress MLAs, then met the Speaker and apprised him of the decision reached at the meeting. The Assembly today functioned normally after five days of bickering.