Central forces not allowed inside Assembly building, says Minister

KOLKATA: Central forces will not be allowed inside the Assembly building, said Partha Chattopadhyay, minister for Parliamentary Affairs on Monday.

Addressing the press, he said Speaker Biman Bandyopadhyay had turned down the request of BJP to allow Central forces inside the Assembly House premises. It may be recalled that a heated exchange took place between the security guards of Suvendu Adhikari and mediapersons, when he had gone to take oath in the Assembly House. Media personnel had sought intervention of the Speaker in this matter.

Chattopadhyay said makeshift arrangements for the Central force personnel would be made on the premises of Assembly House. It was also decided at the meeting of the Business Advisory Committee that no visitor would be allowed at the visitors' gallery in view of the pandemic. Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar will address the Budget Session of the Assembly on July 2 at 2 pm. This will be followed by the motion of thanks to the Governor's Address at 3.30 pm. The election of the Deputy Speaker will be held in the afternoon.

On July 5, there will be obituary references followed by the discussion of the speech of the Governor on July 6. The Budget will be presented on July 7 by Partha Chattopadhyay, state Industry minister. On July 8, a discussion will be held for creation of the Legislative Council.

On July 9 and 10 there will be discussions of the Budget, including the discussion and voting on demands for grants on July 10. Chattopadhyay said the Business Advisory Committee members will fix the schedule of the subsequent week at the meeting on July 7.