Chaos as TMC MP smashes glass bottle, incurs a day’s suspension

New Delhi: Chaos prevailed at the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) meeting on the Waqf Bill on Tuesday as Trinamool MP Kalyan Banerjee injured his hand after smashing a glass water bottle. The incident occurred during a heated argument between BJP MP Abhijit Gangopadhyay and Kalyan Banerjee, according to sources.

TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee was suspended for one day from the parliamentary committee on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill after high drama. The committee’s chairperson and senior BJP MP Jagdambika Pal condemned the conduct of Banerjee, a rather vocal parliamentarian who has been strident in his criticism of the Bill. He said such actions were “unprecedented” and crossed all limits.

During the meeting, Banerjee was involved in an ugly spat with BJP MP and former Calcutta High Court judge Abhijit Gangopadhyay – not for the first time –as expletives were hurled with both members attacking each other in Bengali.

JPC chairman Pal said he and other members tried to calm things when the Trinamool Congress leader picked up a glass bottle, smashed it and threw it towards him.

Banerjee ended up with cuts on the thumb and the little finger in his right hand as a stunned Pal adjourned the meeting. He was administered stitches at a medical dispensary in the parliament complex.

The committee later took up a motion moved by BJP member Nishikant Dubey to suspend Banerjee for one day, whenever the next meeting takes place, for his conduct towards the Chair. Votes were divided 10-8, with the ruling alliance and opposition members polling on partisan lines.

Sources said Banerjee expressed regret for smashing the bottle and claimed that he never meant to throw it towards Pal, while still accusing him of “biased” behaviour.

Gangopadhyay was visibly upset after only one-day suspension was handed out to Banerjee as penalty and over the fact that the motion made no mention of the verbal attack on him.

Asked about the future course of action, Pal said he apprised Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla of the development. “It was in a way a criminal act that could have badly hurt me. His conduct is a blow to parliamentary democracy,” he added.

The committee’s meetings have often seen tempers fly with opposition members accusing the Chair of inviting different organisations, including those working for Hindu causes, having no stake in the Waqf issues and the BJP members charging their political rivals with deliberately disturbing the proceedings.

The committee on Tuesday was hearing the views of two Odisha-based organisations, Justice in Reality and Panchasakha Bani Prachar, both of which included retired judges and lawyers, when opposition members questioned their stake in the Bill.