Maheshtala clashes: Speaker foils BJP’s disruption bid
Kolkata: Speaker Biman Banerjee on Thursday with support from the Trinamool Congress (TMC) legislators ensured no disruption in the scheduled Assembly proceedings after the Opposition BJP created a ruckus in an attempt to disrupt proceedings when their demand for
discussion on their adjournment motion regarding clashes in Maheshtala, South 24-Parganas was turned down.
Soon after the question-answer session, BJP MLAs led by Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari brought dual adjournment motions, seeking discussions on the communal violence in Murshidabad in April and the clashes in the Maheshtala on Wednesday.
The Speaker refused to admit the first matter on the grounds of it being sub-judice and police action already initiated in Maheshtala.
The BJP legislators stormed into the well of the House, waving saffron flags and holding up images related to the Maheshtala incident chanting slogans.
They also protested by tearing apart paper documents on the House proceedings distributed among the legislators.
The security personnel of the Assembly raised a human wall between the Speaker’s chair and the protesting legislators.
Despite repeated appeals from the Speaker to the Opposition to maintain decorum and refrain from protests, the BJP MLAs did not pay heed.
Eventually, the Speaker resumed the session without declaring a recess and proceeded with the scheduled discussion on the Public Works Department (PWD) and Public Health Engineering department. After creating such a ruckus for 45 minutes, the BJP staged a walkout from the Assembly. Members of the ruling Trinamool, including ministers Chandrima Bhattacharya, Shyamal Mondal, Manas Bhunia and Shashi Panja, strongly condemned the BJP’s actions.
They alleged that the BJP was using communal tensions as a tool to disrupt the state’s development.
“The Leader of Opposition had threatened to stop the Assembly session over the Maheshtala issue, however, they ran out of energy in 45 minutes. But we have inherited the fighting spirit from our leader Mamata Banerjee and so the assembly session continued without taking recess,“ said Bhattacharjee.
“Resorting to such protests with flags of a particular religious organisation is unprecedented on the floor of the Assembly,“ said Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay, state Parliamentary Affairs minister.
After walking out of the Assembly, the BJP legislators marched to Raj Bhavan and sought the Governor’s intervention in initiating disciplinary action against the inspector-in-charge of the local Rabindra Nagar Police Station for allegedly remaining inactive in preventing clashes.
