A dramatic confrontation ensued at the West Bengal Legislative Assembly today, when a total of four members of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), namely Dipak Burman, Shankar Ghosh, Agnimitra Paul, and Manoj Oraon, were suspended by the House till the end of the session. They were suspended at the order of Speaker Biman Banerjee after an uproar during a debate on the removal of some statements made earlier in the House.
The suspended MLAs have been occupying the main entrance of the Assembly with loud protests, along with raising slogans and carrying banners. They claimed that their ouster was not only undemocratic, but also a move of the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) to suppress the voice of opposition. We were only acting out our right of freedom of expression as spelt out in the constitution. Marshals were invited in, and we were literally thrown out. It is no democracy, just a dictatorship within the Assembly, said one of the MLAs as quoted by the reporters.
One of the suspended legislators, Agnimitra Paul, made a blistering statement wherein the ruling party was accused of indulging in a “flagrant attack on democracy.” She accused the Leader of the Opposition, Suvendu Adhikari, of being intimidated and harassed physically by female marshals of the Parliament, describing it as a well-thought-out plan to humiliate and muzzle opponents. We were bullied because we even dared to talk on behalf of the people who voted us into office. This is a form of legislative fascism, she cried.
BJP leaders criticised the manner in which the TMC has been tackling the situation, terming the activities of the state government as being of an authoritarian panic by the party’s IT Cell chief, Amit Malviya. The BJP legislative group then went on a sit-in protest in the corridors of the Assembly, promising to persist in their opposition to what it described as the dictatorial moves of the Mamata Banerjee-led government.
Investigations on the incident and political fallout will be felt in the days ahead.
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