Kolkata: Reacting sharply to the ruckus created by the BJP MLAs at the beginning of the Budget session, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in the Assembly on Thursday said that the House was not a party office of the BJP.
She said: “After the Budget session ends, the Opposition can have a discussion on any issue but disrupting the House like this is not acceptable. People have a right to know the work we are doing for them. We condemn such dirty politics. The BJP is anti-Bangla. They don’t want the good of the state.”
The BJP MLAs led by Opposition leader Suvendu Adhikari tried to prevent the House from playing the state song — “Banglar Mati, Banglar Jol” — in the beginning. BJP MLAs sang the national anthem on the floor of the House when the state song was being sung by the Chief Minister, other ministers and the ruling TMC MLAs. Banerjee further stated: “Are you not ashamed of behaving in this manner? They should remember that the Parliament had suspended 147 Opposition MPs. But I don’t want to go in that direction. I am not afraid of them. But people should see their actions.”
Infuriated, the CM condemned the incident saying it was an insult to the national anthem as well. Both the Speaker Biman Bandyopadhyay and Chief Minister Banerjee pointed out that the national anthem is always sung at the end of the session. Eventually the Budget session on Thursday concluded with the national anthem. BJP MLAs however left the House before the national anthem was played at the end.