TMC MLA marshalled out of West Bengal Assembly, suspended
TMC MLA Kunal Ghosh of the Mamata Banerjee-led ‘Kalighat’ faction of the party was on Wednesday marshalled out of the West Bengal Assembly and later suspended for the remainder of the day after he disrupted proceedings by preventing Opposition Chief Whip Akhruzzaman from speaking during a debate.
Dramatic scenes unfolded during the discussion on the budgetary demands of the Home and Hill Affairs Department, as Ghosh resisted eviction, prompting Assembly marshals to lift and carry him out of the House after repeated appeals by the Speaker failed to restore order.
The scuffle triggered noisy protests, with members trooping into the well before proceedings could resume.
The dramatic scenes, marked by slogan shouting, jostling and intervention by marshals, underscored the deepening rift within the Trinamool Congress legislature party between the TMC’s Kalighat camp and the rebel faction headed by Opposition Leader Ritabrata Banerjee.
The commotion began when Akhruzzaman, a legislator aligned with the Ritabrata camp, rose to participate in the discussion. Ghosh immediately left his seat and stood in front of the microphone allotted to Akhruzzaman, repeatedly asking him why his own name had been removed from the list of speakers.
“Why did you strike off my name? Why are you not allowing me to speak?” Ghosh was heard asking Akhruzzaman, triggering loud protests from members on both sides.
At that time, Ritabrata Banerjee was seated beside Akhruzzaman, while senior ministers Firhad Hakim and Javed Khan occupied the adjacent benches.
Within moments, members trooped into the well of the House, bringing proceedings to a standstill. Several BJP MLAs also moved towards the well before Tourism Minister Shankar Ghosh persuaded them to return to their seats.
Amid the uproar, Speaker Rathindra Bose repeatedly appealed to Ghosh to return to his seat, warning that he would be forced to order his removal if he refused to comply. Senior minister Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay also tried to calm the situation, but the exchanges continued unabated.
With Ghosh refusing to relent, the Speaker directed Assembly marshals to remove him from the House. Ghosh resisted the move, leading to pushing and shoving with the marshals. In the melee, he stumbled before being escorted out of the Assembly amid noisy protests.
The Speaker subsequently suspended Ghosh from the House for the remainder of the day. The suspension, however, came after a brief discussion on the floor of the House.
Industries Minister Tapas Roy initially demanded that Ghosh be suspended for the rest of the ongoing Assembly session till Saturday, citing his “unruly behaviour”.
Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari then intervened, saying there was no need to “make him a hero” by suspending him for the entire session and suggested that a suspension for the day would suffice.
The Speaker thereafter placed the proposal before the House, which approved Ghosh’s suspension for the day by a voice vote supported by BJP legislators as well as members of the Ritabrata Banerjee-led TMC rebel camp.
Explaining his conduct, Ghosh alleged that legislators belonging to the Mamata Banerjee faction were being systematically denied opportunities to speak in the Assembly by the rival camp.
He claimed his name had initially figured on the list of members scheduled to participate in the discussion on the Home and Hill Affairs Department’s budgetary demands, but was later deleted by Akhruzzaman, prompting his protest inside the House.
Outside the House, Ghosh told reporters: “My voice is being unfairly silenced. Those who are being projected as the Opposition in an unethical manner are instructed and controlled by the ruling side.”
Condemning the treatment meted out to Ghosh, TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee alleged that Beleghata MLA’s forcible removal from the House and his subsequent suspension raised questions on the “dignity and integrity” of the legislative assembly.
“In a democratic system, the right to express dissent is constitutionally guaranteed. The Legislative Assembly should be a forum for reasoned debate and democratic values not a place for the use of physical force or intimidation. Such treatment of an elected representative is not only an affront to his personal dignity but also raises serious questions about the dignity and integrity of democratic institutions,” Banerjee said in a Facebook post.
He claimed that Bengal was increasingly witnessing the emergence of a political environment in which “suppressing dissent appears to have become the primary objective of those in power”.
“This trend is deeply concerning for democracy. In a democracy, it is reason and tolerance, not force, that should prevail,” he wrote.
“The TMC can never be silenced through intimidation or the use of force. We will continue our struggle, with even greater determination and unity, in the interests of the people against every attempt to stifle the voice of democracy. Bowing before injustice is not our principle, and it never will be,” Banerjee added.
The incident came a day after confusion over the Opposition’s list of speakers, exposing differences within the Trinamool Congress legislature party over who was authorised to decide the names of members participating in debates.
On Tuesday, legislators aligned with the Kalighat faction had complained that names recommended by them were being dropped from the list of speakers, reflecting the continuing struggle for control over the legislature party’s functioning following the split in the TMC.
Wednesday’s disruption further highlighted the intensifying battle between the rival camps over floor coordination, allocation of speaking time and authority within the legislature party, with the internal feud repeatedly spilling onto the floor of the House and forcing the Speaker to intervene.
Normal proceedings resumed only after Ghosh was removed from the Assembly.