Kolkata: Speaker Biman Banerjee on Monday was dissatisfied over the absence of BJP and ISF MLAs at the all-party meeting convened by him with the Monsoon session of the state Assembly kicking off.
Only MLAs representing the ruling party Trinamool Congress were present.
Nawshad Siddiqui, ISF MLA was seen in the Assembly premises but did not turn up for the all-party meeting.
The all-party meeting started as per schedule at 11 am following which the Assembly was adjourned after obituary.
The speaker did not make any remark officially but TMC MLAs said that he was not pleased with BJP’s absence in the meeting.
“There are always differences of opinion between the ruling party and the Opposition at all party meetings. But that does not mean that they should stay away. We were also in the Opposition during Left Front rule but we hardly stayed away from the proceedings of the House,“ state Parliamentary Affairs minister Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay said.
There will be a discussion on the standing committee report on Social Forestry based on the districts of Cooch Behar, Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar on Tuesday.
On Wednesday there will be a discussion on the Standing Committee report on Tourism, Forest and Environment.
The BJP MLAs reasoned stifling of their voices on the Assembly floor for boycotting the all-party meeting.
Initially, there was uncertainty over the beginning of the Assembly session with Governor CV Ananda Bose seeking clarification for convening of the session at such short notice. However, intervention from the Speaker and Chattopadhyay ensured that there were no hiccups.
It is customary to seek the Governor’s nod for the beginning of the Assembly session.