Sherman Ali Ahmed.
Credit: X/@ShermanAliAhmed
Guwahati: The Congress on Thursday sought the disqualification of its suspended MLA Sherman Ali Ahmed from the Assam Assembly, handing over a 167-page complaint to the authorities alleging that was directly campaigning against the party candidates in the Lok Sabha elections.
This was the second time that the party approached Speaker Biswajit Daimary with a written application seeking disqualification of Ahmed.
"Ahmed has been directly campaigning against our party's official candidates. He has even uploaded things against Congress candidates on his Facebook page. This is in clear violation of rules and we have sought immediate action from the speaker, of which we are hopeful," Congress deputy leader in the assembly and candidate from Dhubri Lok Sabha seat, Rakibul Hussain said.
Hussain, accompanied by AICC general secretary and in-charge of Assam, Pritviraj Sathe and other leaders, handed the complaint to Assembly Secretary Dulal Pegu as Daimary was out of town.
"We spoke to the speaker over the phone and he asked us to submit the complaint to Dulal Pegu. The speaker asked Pegu to update him on the matter immediately," the Congress leader added.
Sathe said the 167-page complaint included documents and references which showed that MLAs were disqualified from the assembly within 24 hours when they disobeyed the party whip.
"It is the responsibility of the speaker now to set an example by acting against the MLA," he added.
The Congress had written to Daimary for the first time on April 26, 2022, seeking Ahmed's disqualification for alleged anti-party activities.
Ahmed was suspended from the party in October 2021 for 'repeatedly violating party discipline'. He was also arrested by the police prior to the suspension over 'provocative remarks' he had allegedly made against an eviction drive in Darrang district in September that year.