Six BJP MLAs, including Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, were suspended from the West Bengal assembly over staging protests in the House in view of unrest in Sandeshkhali. Besides Adhikari, Agnimitra Pal, Mihir Goswami, Bankim Ghosh, Tapasi Mondal and Shankar Ghosh were suspended for the remaining part of the current session or 30 days, whichever is earlier.
Since the beginning of the question hour, BJP legislators started shouting slogans against the TMC government for the present unrest in Sandeshkhali in North 24 Parganas district, which has snowballed into a major political controversy. The BJP MLAs sat on the floor of the House, shouting slogans which led to a ruckus inside the assembly. They were also seen wearing white shirts with the inscription "We are with Sandeshkhali" in red.
Speaker Biman Banerjee then allowed Trinamool Congress MLA Sobhandeb Chatterjee to move a motion for the suspension of the BJP legislators. Subsequently, the BJP MLAs were suspended by the Speaker. Later, Chatterjee said that the BJP legislators were not maintaining the decorum and discipline of the House and always tried to disrupt the proceedings.
"Enough leeway was given to them and this had crossed the limit of tolerance," he said. A large number of women in Sandeshkhali held protests in the last few days, alleging that local TMC leader Sheikh Shajahan and his "gang" captured swathes of land by force, besides sexually harassing them. They demanded the arrest of Shajahan who has been absconding since last month after a team of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) that went to raid his house in an alleged ration scam was attacked by a mob.
(With inputs from PTI)
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