Chandigarh: The monsoon session of the Haryana assembly opened amid uproar on Thursday, with protests over the alleged manhandling of Congress MLAs at the assembly gate leading to repeated adjournments, a walkout and suspension of eight opposition legislators for the day.Congress MLAs, dressed in black and carrying placards, were stopped by security personnel before the 11am session began. The confrontation turned heated, with Congress alleging that some MLAs were manhandled. Badli MLA Kuldeep Vats claimed he was assaulted. Videos of the incident surfaced but did not clearly show how the altercation began.Inside the house, leader of opposition Bhupinder Singh Hooda raised the issue after obituary references and sought an explanation from speaker Harvinder Kalyan. Congress MLAs later entered the well, shouted slogans and demanded action over the alleged assault, while BJP members raised counter-slogans.The confrontation intensified after a remark by CM Nayab Singh Saini that Congress interpreted as calling its members “goons”. The opposition demanded the remark be expunged. Kalyan said he would examine the facts and decide, but the protests continued.After repeated warnings, Kalyan suspended eight Congress MLAs for the day, including Induraj Narwal, Vikas Saharan, Devender Hans, Shakuntla Khatak, Aditya Surjewala, Gokul Setia, Jassi Petwar and Balram Dangi. Deputy leader of opposition Aftab Ahmed was also warned.Congress then walked out. Younger MLAs Saharan, Surjewala, Setia and Dangi were at the forefront of the protest, while Hooda and former speaker Raghuvir Singh Kadian challenged the govt and speaker over the alleged treatment of MLAs.INLD also raised law and order through a calling-attention motion. Despite the disruptions, Saini defended his govt’s record and rejected the opposition’s allegations.Cross-voting MLA joins BJP in shouting slogansThe day also saw an unusual scene involving five Congress MLAs who had earlier received show-cause notices over alleged cross-voting in the Rajya Sabha election. While seated with Congress members, Ratia MLA Jarnail Singh was seen raising slogans alongside BJP legislators.
