11.39 PM Thursday, 25 April 2024
  • City Fajr Shuruq Duhr Asr Magrib Isha
  • Dubai 04:26 05:44 12:20 15:47 18:50 20:08
25 April 2024

Indian politicians throw shoes, pots

Indian Congress party politician MLC Jyoti Devithe destroys flower pots outside the Bihar Legislative Assembly in Patna on July 21, 2010. More than 60 Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) have reportedly been suspended from the state parliament for disruptive protests against alleged misappropriation of 1,1 billion Indian rupees ($23million) in state government-run development programmes. (AFP)

Published
By AFP

More than 60 MLAs were suspended from a state assembly in India Wednesday amid ugly scenes that saw the speaker pelted with shoes, seats thrown and a flower-pot-wielding woman legislator dragged away by security.

The legislature in the eastern state of Bihar has been in uproar for several days, with opposition members demanding the resignation of the chief minister over an alleged corruption scandal.

On Tuesday, members on both sides of the house stormed the well of the chamber, overturned tables and threw chairs at one another.

The chaos continued Wednesday, with one lawmaker expressing his anger by flinging his sandals at the speaker, while others wrestled each other on the floor.

One member, Jyoti Singh, responded to being ejected from the chamber by picking up large flower pots decorating the entrance to the assembly and hurling them at security personnel.

She was eventually dragged away by three female marshals.

Speaker Udai Narain Choudhry suspended 67 members - almost the entire opposition - for the remainder of the assembly's current session, which runs until Friday.