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Assam Congress says CM made ‘unconstitutional’ remarks, Sarma rejects charge
The Congress delegation led by the party’s legislature party leader Debabrata Saikia urged the Assam governor to advise the CM Himanata Biswa Sarma not to pass such comments against the opposition in future.
A Congress party delegation met Assam governor Jagdish Mukhi on Saturday accusing chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma of making ‘undemocratic and unconstitutional’ remarks at least twice.
After Congress MLA Rupjyoti Kurmi resigned from the party last week to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Sarma said instead of sitting in opposition benches for five years, opposition MLAs should consider joining the government and work for welfare of the public.
In the second instance, the CM had said that deputy commissioners of districts will only listen to ministers and not MLAs on developmental work as legislators’ job was to frame laws in the assembly.
“The remarks by the CM which try to demean the constitutional roles and duties of the opposition are in very bad taste and we feel that such a behaviour is intolerable and becoming part of a CM who has taken oath under you to protect and preserve and safeguard the Indian constitution,” the Congress memorandum read.
“The Indian constitution being a proviso for a parliamentary form of democracy wherein both ruling and opposition parties are a must. These remarks of the CM are undemocratic, unconstitutional...,” it added.
The memorandum submitted to the governor by the party in this matter said that MLAs are members of committees at block, circle, sub-division and district levels and are also ex-officio members of urban bodies in their constituencies.
“MLAs are accountable to the people of their respective constituencies for development and other activities. So the CM’s statement that an MLA has no work outside assembly is concocted, self manufactured and baseless only with a view to dissuade government officials from listening to opposition MLAs,” it stated.
The Congress delegation led by the party’s legislature party leader Debabrata Saikia urged the governor to advise the CM not to pass such comments against the opposition in future.
A similar memorandum was also submitted by the delegation later to assembly speaker Biswajit Daimary.
“What can I say? It’s already written in the constitution. What does a legislature mean and a legislator does? The council of ministers is responsible towards the assembly,” Sarma said, responding to the opposition’s objections on Saturday.
