Raipur, July 7 (IANS) Opposition Congress legislators created an uproar in the Chhattisgarh state assembly Monday, seeking immediate release of Satnami community's spiritual leader Baldas arrested in April on charges of inciting a mob to grab a piece of land.
As soon as the house began its sitting at 11 a.m., Congress legislators raised the issue and described Baldas' arrest as 'an attack of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on the Satnami community'. The community belongs to the Scheduled Castes category.
Mahendra Karma, Leader of the Opposition, said the BJP was celebrating Baldas' arrest as a victory. The house plunged into pandemonium with a majority of the Congress legislators shouting slogans and demanding his immediate release.
Speaker Prem Prakash Pandey first adjourned the house for five minutes and then till 3 p.m.
The Congress has 34 legislators while the ruling BJP has 52 members in the 90-member assembly. The Bahujan Samaj Party and the Nationalist Congress Party have one seat each. Two seats are currently vacant.
