The opposition parties MLAs in Assam, on Monday, staged a protest at the Assembly premises against CM Himanta Biswa Sarma’s recent remark on role of legislators.
Chanting ‘Save Democracy’ slogans, the MLAs of the opposition parties in Assam staged demonstration outside the House, in the Assembly premises.
Opposition MLAs in Assam from the Congress and the AIUDF led the protest.
The opposition MLAs have demanded Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma to withdraw his remarks, made during a public meeting at Sarbhog constituency recently.
“The Assam CM wants to install an authoritarian state by trying to minimise and spreading misinformation on the role and responsibilities of an MLA. It is a threat to democracy,” Leader of Opposition and senior Congress leader Debabrata Saikia said.
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He added: “The Constitution has specifically mentioned the roles and responsibilities of MLAs. Legislators are meant to look after their own constituencies, see that benefits of schemes reach the common masses, among others. They (MLAs) are not merely meant for framing laws and speak only before the speaker.”
Meanwhile, Sivasagar MLA Akhil Gogoi said: “The Assam CM should not speak nonsense like an immature person and should respect democracy and the Constitution.”
Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma recently said that role of an MLA is confined only to framing laws, while it is the duty of the ministers to implement them.
Sarma had said that as long as he is the chief minister of Assam, all the government officers including the DCs and SPs will listen to the ministers and not the MLAs.