Late arrival in Assembly: Speaker rebukes two TMC MLAs

Kolkata: Bengal Legislative Assembly Speaker Biman Banerjee on Tuesday reprimanded two-newly elected members for their late arrival in the state Assembly.

The incident occurred at around 11.25 am during the question answer session when Sangita Roy and Joy Prakash Toppo entered the House. The two were among the six legislators of Trinamool Congress (TMC) who were sworn-in on Monday. Officially Tuesday was their first day in the Assembly.

The two entered the House holding a piece of paper and began searching for their assigned seats. The duo approached members of the ruling party with their seat numbers. They were guided to their seats by an assembly staff member. “Newly-elected MLAs should arrive at the assembly before 11 am. It is inappropriate to be searching for seats while the session is in progress,” said the Speaker.

Roy and Toppo, who won from Sitai and Madarihat, respectively, in the November 13 bypolls, were sworn-in by Governor CV Ananda Bose in the Assembly on Monday.

“They are new but they should understand there is a discipline in the party and everyone will have to strictly adhere to it.

They shouldn’t have been later after the Chief Minister’s warning on Monday. The party will not allow indiscipline,” a senior TMC leader.