4 BJP MLAs suspended from West Bengal Assembly for 30 days
The BJP MLAs allegedly tore official documents and threw them at the Speaker while staging a protest in the House against alleged attempts to stall Saraswati Puja in various educational institutions in the state
Kolkata: Four Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislators in West Bengal, including leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari and the party’s state general secretary Agnimitra Paul, were suspended from the assembly for 30 days for allegedly tearing official documents and throwing them at the Speaker while staging a protest in the House against alleged attempts to stall Saraswati Puja in various educational institutions in the state.
“The way the leader of the Opposition and some MLAs behaved today is condemnable. They tore official documents and threw them at the Speaker’s chair. Nirmal Ghosh (Trinamool Congress chief whip) brought a motion to suspend them for 30 days. The motion was put to vote. The MLAs voted for this, and it was carried. Accordingly, they (BJP legislators) have been suspended for 30 days or till the end of the session, whichever is earlier,” Biman Banerjee, Speaker of the legislative assembly, told media persons.
The Speaker suspended Adhikari, Paul and two other BJP MLAs Bankim Ghosh and Biswanath Karak.
The BJP MLAs, led by Adhikari entered the well of the House and raised slogans after the Speaker refused to hold a discussion on the adjournment motion brought by Paul.
“The way attempts were made to stall Saraswati Puja in various educational institutions this year, was unprecedented. Even the British didn’t do this before 1947. BJP women legislators brought an adjournment motion following business rules of the House. BJP MLAs staged a protest and raised slogans against this anti-Hindu government for around 10 minutes. We disregarded the business of the House, tore the papers and threw them. We staged a walkout,” Adhikari later told reporters.
In January this year the Calcutta high court had to order the police to provide security for Saraswati pujas inside a college campus in Kolkata. The adjournment motion was brought by the BJP to highlight alleged intimidation at some places in the state over organising Saraswati Puja earlier this month.
“We sought answers on why objections were raised against Saraswati Puja, why the need arose to move the high court and why police had to be posted. This is an undemocratic and anti-Hindu government. The house belongs to the Opposition. Chief minister Mamata Banerjee is doing exactly the same things what Md Yunus, head of the interim government in Bangladesh, is doing in his country. The chief minister will address the House on Tuesday and before that the BJP MLAs were suspended so that she doesn’t face any opposition,” Adhikari told reporters.
BJP leaders said that they have been suspended at least thrice earlier.
“Whatever the BJP MLAs did today was very unfair. They have insulted the speaker’s chair,” Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay, veteran TMC leader, told media persons.
The assembly polls in West Bengal are scheduled to be held next year.
While the TMC had won 213 seats, the BJP had won 77 seats in the 2021 assembly polls.
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