BJP MLAs run ‘parallel assembly’ in J&K Assembly lawns

Srinagar : After they were marshalled out from the J&K Assembly for protesting against the resolution to restore Article 370, MLAs of BJP held a "parallel assembly" in the premises of the Assembly building in Srinagar on Friday.

Over a dozen BJP MLAs were forcibly removed from the Assembly while the rest of the party MLAs staged a walkout.

BJP MLAs held a "parallel assembly" in the lawns of the Assembly building where BJP MLA Sham Lal Sharma acted as the Speaker and heard the members, who spoke against the resolution.

“The way our honourable members were marshalled out is hooliganism. We had a lot of hopes with the Speaker because of his experience, but the way we were treated is unfortunate”, Pavan Gupta, a BJP MLA said in the parallel assembly and condemned the actions within the House.

He added that people are happy in Kashmir because of the peaceful situation that arose after the scrapping of Article 370. Several other MLAs spoke on the occasion.

Chander Prakash Ganga, a BJP MLA termed the legislators who brought the posters in the house as "separatists."

The majority of legislators from BJP were marshalled out after they tried to storm into the well of house to demand the rollback of the resolution passed on special status of Jammu and Kashmir. Remaining BJP MLAs staged a walk out in protest.

Speaker Abdul Rahim Rather told the marshals of the Assembly to not allow the BJP MLAs to re-enter the house.

On Wednesday, Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Choudhary plotted a resolution seeking the restoration of Article 370. The resolution was passed with voice vote.

While 42 NC MLAs voted in favour of the resolution, Independent MLAs, Sajad Gani Lone, Khurshid Ahmad Sheikh, CPI-M, MLA, Yusuf Tarigami and three PDP members also voted in favour of the resolution.