Agartala, March 27: Tripura’s Leader of Opposition (LoP) Jitendra Chaudhary on Thursday accused the Speaker of violating assembly procedures by rejecting his privilege motion against Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ratan Lal Nath.
Addressing a press conference, Chaudhary stated that the Speaker dismissed his motion on the grounds that a prior privilege motion request, submitted by the Parliamentary Affairs Minister’s Private Secretary (PS) against a local newspaper, had already been received. However, Chaudhary challenged this reasoning, citing the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Tripura Legislative Assembly.
According to the assembly rules, a privilege motion must be submitted in writing to the Assembly Secretary before the commencement of the day’s sitting, and if based on a document, the original or a copy must be attached. The application must go through the Receipt and Dispatch Section of the Assembly. However, the Speaker admitted that he received the letter from the Private Secretary of the Parliamentary Affairs Minister, bypassing official procedures.
Citing this procedural lapse, Chaudhary argued that the privilege motion brought by the Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ratan Lal Nath should be invalidated, and his motion against the Minister should be considered instead. The development has sparked fresh political tensions in the Assembly.
On Wednesday the Opposition CPIM had protested the remaining day of the Budget Session in protest against the alleged partisan role of Speaker Biswabandhu Sen and earlier racial remarks against Chaudhary by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ratan Lal Nath.
