kolkata: Five Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLAs, including Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, were suspended from the Bengal Assembly on Monday—the last day of Budget session—for alleged assault on Trinamool Congress (TMC) MLAs on the floor of the House.
Apart from Adhikari, BJP's Chief Whip Manoj Tigga and legislators Shankar Ghosh, Narahari Mahato and Dipak Barman were also suspended for the remaining session till it gets prorogued.
Shortly after the House assembled at 11 am, it plunged into pandemonium as BJP MLAs trooped to the well, demanding a statement by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee over the "worsening" law and order situation in the wake of the tragedy in Birbhum district, where eight people were burnt alive last week. They even allegedly pushed the security guards who had surrounded them. The Speaker urged Adhikari to ask his party MLAs to abstain but it continued. When some TMC MLAs tried to stop the BJP legislators, they were beaten up.
Speaker Biman Banerjee condemned the act of the BJP legislators in which some 16-17 TMC MLAs sustained injuries. MLA from Chinsurah in Hooghly Asit Majumdar who was allegedly beaten up by Adhikari was taken away in an ambulance and was hospitalised at SSKM. "Suvendu Adhikari punched me," Majumdar said while being rushed to the hospital with blood oozing from his nose. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee who is presently in North Bengal called up the state Urban Development minister Firhad Hakim and took stock of the situation.
Hakim sought consent from Banerjee regarding a proposal by the parliamentary party demanding strong action against the unruly BJP legislators and accordingly flagged off the same. TMC MLAs Chandrima Bhattacharjee, Nirmal Ghosh, Udayan Guha supported the proposal."The way the BJP legislators attacked security guards including women had hardly happened on the floor of the House. The incident is undesirable. They even vandalized properties inside the House. I have asked the Secretary to prepare a list of the things damaged and accordingly, we will examine how the compensation against such loss can be realised," the Speaker said.
Parliamentary Affairs minister Partha Chatterjee said since the beginning of the session, the BJP at the behest of Adhikari has been deliberately trying to disrupt the proceedings of the House in a planned manner. "They have not raised any constructive issue that is associated with the welfare of the people. Today's (Monday) incident was also pre-planned," Chatterjee said. Asked about her reaction to the ruckus in the Assembly on Monday, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said: "I don't know anything. You can ask the Speaker. It is his prerogative."