IT News
Imphal, Aug 29:
The much-awaited State Assembly Session which was summoned in a controversial manner and convened today turns ugly before the Speaker of the House could take up business of the session today.
With the opposition MLAs demanding a discussion of the ongoing violence that is burning the state, by shouting slogans and even displaying placards, the Speaker of the House, Th. Seityabrata adjourned the house for 30 minutes at 11:09:39 hours, i.e. before even completing 10 minutes of the sitting. The session began at 11 hours. Media persons at the gallery show the opposition MLAs rushing to the well as the speaker announced the adjournment of the house for 30 minutes. Interestingly, unlike any other session, the 4th session of the 12th Manipur Legislative Assembly was summoned by the governor of Manipur Anusuiya Uikey under Article 174 (1) of the Constitution of India. The notice was issued by the Secretary of the Manipur Legislative Assembly on August 21, i.e. nine days before the commencement of the session. As per the Rules of Business and the Conduct of Business of the Manipur Legislative Assembly, members are supposed to serve notice 15 days ahead of the session. There is no mention of whether the session is a ‘normal session’ or an ‘emergent session’.
Another interesting feature of today’s assembly session is that the house was adjourned sine die at 11:40 hours minutes after the sitting was resumed. Amidst protest from the opposition Congress creating a ruckus in the house, leader of the house N. Biren Singh moved a motion of appreciation to the successful mission of Chandrayan 3 and also congratulated Manipuri native Dr. Raghu Ningthoujam, Project Manager of ISRO who had taken the important role to the launching of the moon – rocket mission Chandrayan 3. The Chief Minister also moved a motion to condole the tragic loss of several lives in the state due to the violence. A two-minute silence was observed as a mark of respect to the departed souls. Both the motions were moved by the leader of the house before the speaker of the house adjourned the motion sine die without taking up any other business.
Meanwhile, reporters belonging to electronic media who were assigned for the coverage of the Assembly session expressed dissatisfaction with the unnatural strictness of the state assembly marshals. Photographers of the Directorate of Information and Public Relations (DIPR), DDK, AIR, and other media houses were forbidden from taking their recorders and cameras inside the house. The normal defer live broadcast at DDK has also been suspended.