Narottam Mishra accused of throwing rule book at LoP; Assembly session adjourned till Mar 13

Leader of Opposition in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly Govind Singh on Friday moved a breach of privilege motion against Legislative Affairs Minister Narottam Mishra, accusing him of throwing a rule book at him in the House even as the Budget session was adjourned till March 13.

The proceedings on Friday saw a face-off between the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the opposition Congress over the suspension of an opposition MLA. Later, Congress leader and LoP Govind Singh, in a petition to the Principal Secretary, Assembly Secretariat, sought action against Narottam Mishra.

The minister, who also holds the Home portfolio, denied the allegation that he threw a book at Singh.

“A member of the Congress under my leadership sought a debate on the no-trust motion against the honourable Speaker (Girish Gautam). In the meantime, Mishra used indecent language and in a fit of rage threw a book on the Assembly proceedings and rules at me....It fell on me,” Govind Singh's petition read.

It termed the BJP leader's conduct as "unparliamentary" and added that such an "attack on LoP...was highly insulting." Mishra told reporters that an Assembly employee had come in the way and "when I rose to remove him by hand from the sight, the book I was holding slipped." “He (Govind Singh) said I threw it. I apologized for it as well. I will do the same in front of you. But I will also share video footage of those who tore the book, disrespected the House rule book...they have not expressed remorse,” the minister said.

An Assembly official said that as per the procedure, the principal secretary will examine and forward the privilege motion notice to the Speaker. The Speaker will then decide whether to refer it to the privilege committee.

“Usually it goes to the privilege committee which hears both sides and makes recommendations,” he added.

Earlier, as soon as the proceedings began in the morning, LoP Govind Singh sought to know the fate of the no-confidence notice given by his party against the Speaker over the suspension of Congress MLA Jitu Patwari.

Mishra said he had moved the proposal for Patwari's suspension, and the Speaker had acted as per the rules once it was passed by voice vote.

Congress MLAs Sajjan Singh Verma and Kunal Chaudhary said Gautam should refrain from being part of the proceedings as a no-confidence motion was proposed against him.

Mishra then appeared to toss, or fling, a book detailing rules and regulations of the Assembly, which elicited protest from the Congress.

Congress MLA Vijay Laxmi Sadhoo also rushed to the Well of the House.

The House was adjourned for some time and after it reconvened, Congress MLAs continued to claim that Mishra had disrespected Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar, the architect of the Constitution, by throwing the rule book at the Leader of Opposition.

Singh sought Mishra's suspension and alleged that the BJP MLAs were acting in this manner as they wanted the session curtailed.

Several Congress MLAs trooped into the Well while one of them tore up a rule book copy.

Amid the ruckus, Speaker Gautam completed the listed business and adjourned the House till March 13.