Assam Speakers' unique idea - 10 minutes 'free-for-all' for legislators to speak on any issue of their choice

GUWAHATI: Amid by repeated verbal duels between ruling and opposition MLAs, Assam assembly Speaker Biswajit Daimary on Tuesday gave a 'free-for-all' ten minutes to the legislators to talk and debate as they wished.

Daimary also spoke in his mother tongue Bodo later when his pleas to the MLAs to maintain decorum in Assamese fell on deaf ears.

Bodo, an associate official language of the state, was recently included among the languages for transaction of business in the assembly.

Today, opposition and ruling MLAs hurled allegations and counter-allegations during a reply to a question of Panchayat and Rural Development department.

Trying to maintain decorum, Daimary stood up and requested the legislators let the proceedings continue.

When his repeated pleas went unheard, the Speaker said he would allow the next 10 minutes for the members to continue with their 'kajia' (fight) and speak as they wished, and he will not interfere.

The normal proceedings resumed at the end of the 10 minutes and continued smoothly for nearly 30 minutes before the ruckus started once again.

With no sign of it stopping, the Speaker started speaking in Bodo as his requests in Assamese to pacify the MLAs met with no success.

Unable to understand what Daimary was saying, a number of MLAs put on their headphones to listen to the Assamese translation. The assembly also has a provision for that.

As the noise subsided, Daimary again requested the MLAs to cooperate with him in ensuring that the House runs smoothly and the proceedings resumed.

Follow us on Facebook