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BJP protests Bangladesh killings in Bengal assembly; MLAs march with candles
BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari said his party lawmakers will not attend the assembly session since it coincided with festivals and the legislators have to stay among the people and share their joy during the coming Kali puja, Diwali, Chhat puja and Jagatdhatri puja.
KOLKATA: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislators in West Bengal on Monday staged a silent protest on the campus of the West Bengal assembly after their proposal for a motion to condole the recent deaths of Hindus in Bangladesh was turned down.
The BJP, the only opposition party in the 294-member legislative assembly, proposed the condolence motion when the session started on Monday.
The day’s short proceedings ended after obituary references but the speaker Biman Banerjee did not allow a condolence motion on the Bangladesh killings which emerged an as issue in the October 30 bypolls held in four assembly seats.
“Since we were not allowed to condole the deaths of our Hindu brothers, we took out a procession with candles inside the campus and silently mourned near the statue of BR Ambedkar. This was our duty,” said Suvendu Adhikari, leader of the opposition in the assembly.
The speaker could not be contacted. Ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) legislators refused to comment on the speaker’s decision, saying it was his jurisdiction.
Adhikari also announced that BJP legislators will not attend the assembly session till November 15 because of the festivals.
“The ruling party should not have convened the session in this festive season. We cannot attend the session because we have to stay among the common people and share their joy during the coming Kali puja, Diwali, Chhat puja and Jagatdhatri puja. We will come to the assembly on the last three days if the session continues till then,” Adhikari said. The session is scheduled to continue till Noveber 18.
Though the BJP bagged 77 seats in Bengal, it is now effectively left with 70 legislators as five have joined to the TMC since June and two legislators did not take oath to retain their Lok Sabha seats. Bypolls in these two seats were held on October 30.
The ruling party, on the other hand, has officially increased its tally from 213 to 215 by winning two Murshidabad district seats where polls were held on September 30. Two candidates who filed their papers from these seats died of Covid-19 before the March-April polls.
On October 30, bypolls were held at Dinhata in Cooch Behar district, Santipur in Nadia district, Khardah in North 24 Parganas and Gosaba in South 24 Parganas. Two of these constituencies, Dinhata and Santipur, were won by the BJP in the March-April polls but the winners did not take oath to retain their Lok Sabha seats. In the remaining two, the TMC’s winning candidates died.
All four districts, where the bypolls were held, are located along the Bangladesh border and have a record of illegal infiltration, smuggling and influx of Hindu refugees during India’s partition in 1947 and creation of Bangladesh after the 1971 war. Since Hindus are in the majority in all these seats, the BJP referred to history in its campaign and focused on the recent attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh.
