In a bizarre scene, a politician disrupted the session in a state legislative assembly after running away with the Speaker’s ceremonial mace.
All India Trinamool Congress politician Sudip Roy Barman took everyone by surprise in the north-eastern state of Tripura's Legislative Assembly on Monday when he climbed to the speaker’s desk and ran away with the mace.
Barman, 50, dodged marshals for a good half-a-minute before he was caught and the mace restored to its rightful place. The mace stands as a symbol of the authority of the House. This was the third-time an opposition lawmaker in Tripura ran away with the mace during session.
"This is against parliamentary traditions, practice and procedure," speaker Ramendra Chandra Debnath said. "Suddenly, Barman ran out of the house with the mace. He should not have done it," he added.
The interruption was presumably Barman’s idea of showing protest. Along with other politicians from his party, Barman was shouting slogans against Forest and Rural Minister Naresh Jamatia, demanding his resignation. Jamatia was recently accused in a sex scandal.
