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BJP MPs to meet PM Modi as Bengal legislators come to blows in Assembly over Birbhum violence
The pandemonium in the Assembly caused a legislator of the ruling TMC to be rushed to the hospital with a bleeding nose. The BJP said at least eight of its MLAs were injured by the ruling party members and security personnel.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MPs from West Bengal will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi over breakfast on Wednesday in Delhi. The meeting follows the chaos that broke out between legislators of the saffron camp and the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) at the Bengal Assembly on Monday.
The incident happened when the BJP legislators were staging a protest in the well of the House, demanding chief minister Mamata Banerjee's statement on the March 21 Birbhum massacre and a discussion on the alleged decline of law and order in the state.
The pandemonium caused a TMC legislator to be rushed to the hospital with a bleeding nose, while the BJP said eight of its MLAs were injured by members of Banerjee's camp and security personnel. Speaker Biman Bandyopadhyay suspended five BJP MLAs, including leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, for alleged disorderly behaviour in the House.
Political tensions have been high in the eastern state since the Birbhum violence in which nine people have died after their houses were set ablaze. The incident took place in Bogtui village of Birbhum district, hours after the murder of a Trinamool Congress leader Bhadu Sheikh. The arson was allegedly carried out by followers and relatives of Sheikh, the deputy chief of the local Barshal panchayat.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is probing the matter following an order from the Calcutta high court. Banerjee had formed a three-member special investigation team (SIT) to investigate the killings but the court took the panel off the case.
