By Press Trust of India
Kolkata:
West Bengal Assembly Speaker Biman Bandyopadhyay on Tuesday directed the secretary of the House not to provide any document related to its proceedings to BJP legislators.
Mr Bandyopadhyay’s directive came after MLAs of the saffron party tore official documents in the assembly, as the Speaker turned down their proposal to adjourn the House over alleged attacks on temples in different parts of the state and staged a walkout.
The Speaker also rejected the BJP legislators’ proposal of introducing a Bill related to protecting children’s rights.
Mr Bandyopadhyay alleged that the BJP MLAs have earlier, too, torn documents of House proceedings in the assembly while staging protests.
“Do not give them (BJP MLAs) papers (related to assembly proceedings),” he told the secretary of the House.
Meanwhile, Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari dubbed Mr Bandyopadhyay’s decision the “rarest incident in the Indian Constitution”.
“There is no democracy even inside the legislative assembly. The opposition is not being heard. The Trinamool Congress government is trying to do everything by force. The walkout by BJP MLAs is in protest against this as well,” said Mr Adhikari, who was earlier suspended from the assembly till March 18 for allegedly insulting the chair of the Speaker during the budget session.
Mr Adhikari, along with other BJP MLAs, also staged a demonstration outside the state Assembly protesting the Speaker’s decision not to allow the adjournment motion.
“In the last four to five days, there have been incidents of attacks on Hindu temples and idols vandalised and set on fire in a few areas in Tamluk constituency. Not a single arrest was made. In Murshidabad’s district Nawada and Uluberia, Hindus were attacked. Hindu shop owners and houses were set on fire and looted,” the BJP leader alleged.
Mr Adhikari also claimed that in Uluberia, people celebrating India’s win in the recently concluded Champions Trophy were attacked.
This story was originally published in ndtv.com. Read the full story here.