Bhopal, Mar 2 (PTI) Congress MLA Jitu Patwari was on Thursday suspended for the rest of the Budget session of the Madhya Pradesh Assembly for allegedly making false statements and then failing to apologise for them as demanded by the Chair.

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Patwari, while speaking on the motion of thanks to the governor's address, said the MP government had given six tigers, five lions, gharial, two foxes to a private zoo in Jamnagar in Gujarat and in turn got some lizards, birds like parrots etc.

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This statement was stridently opposed by ruling Bharatiya Janata Party members, with state Parliamentary Affairs minister Narottam Mishra seeking that Patwari place a copy of his statement on the table of the House.

Mishra said his government would move for breach of privilege against Patwari for making "false statements for the sake of sensationalism".

Speaker Girish Gautam asked Patwari to table his statement on the animal exchange remarks as well as an allegation that money for food at the BJP office was paid by the government.

While Patwari said the issue about money for food was in reply to a question submitted by Congress member Kunal Choudhary. the Speaker asked him to table the statement in the House.

Amid ruckus, the Assembly was adjourned for five minutes, and after it resumed, Leader of Opposition and Congress MLA Govind Singh claimed the BJP had spent Rs 9.5 lakh for a 'Kisan Sangh' meeting, which was countered by Mishra who said the former was misleading the House.

The Speaker then said there was a difference in what Patwari had said during the discussion and what he had submitted in the House and sought his apology.

However, Patwari opposed the Speaker's demand for an apology and the House was adjourned against for five minutes amid shouting from the ruling party as well as opposition legislators.

When the House resumed, Mishra moved a resolution seeking Patwari's suspension for the rest of the Budget session, which was passed by a voice vote, following which Gautam announced the suspension of the Congress MLA.

While Patwari later said he would stage a "fast unto death" on being suspended, MP Congress chief Kamal Nath and LoP Singh, at a press conference, said the opposition party will bring a no-confidence motion against the Speaker for "stifling the voice of the opposition".

They said the BJP MLAs had come to the Assembly having decided to not allow it to function so that they don't have to answer issues raised by the Congress.

Defending the Speaker's decision, Mishra told reporters Patwari was constantly misleading the House by making false statements.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)