Synopsis
On March 13, West Bengal Assembly Speaker Biman Bandopadhyay revoked his earlier directive that prohibited the distribution of house documents to BJP legislators, ensuring their participation in discussions during the ongoing Budget session.Key Takeaways
- Biman Bandopadhyay revoked the document circulation ban.
- The Assembly will not be in session on Holi and the weekend.
- Budget session runs from March 10 to March 19.
- Sikha Chatterjee raised concerns about document access.
- BJP legislators protested after a discussion request was denied.
Kolkata, March 13 (NationPress) West Bengal Assembly Speaker Biman Bandopadhyay on Thursday lifted his earlier directive to the Assembly Secretary that prohibited the distribution of house proceedings-related documents to BJP legislators. On March 11, the Speaker had restricted the circulation of these documents to prevent the BJP members from tearing them during Assembly sessions.
The Assembly will not convene on Friday due to the Holi or Dolyatra festival, as well as on Saturday and Sunday for the weekend. Following the Speaker's new directive, House documents will be distributed again starting Monday.
The second phase of the Budget session commenced on March 10 and is scheduled to run until March 19.
During a discussion on the budget allocations for various state government departments, BJP legislator Sikha Chatterjee from the Dabgram-Phulbari constituency in Jalpaiguri questioned how opposition legislators could effectively participate in discussions without access to the proceedings documents.
She emphasized that, without the circulation of these documents, the opposition MLAs would remain uninformed about the topics at hand, hindering their ability to engage in discussions. The Speaker acknowledged this reasoning and ordered that the documents will once again be circulated among the BJP legislators starting Monday.
On Thursday, the House experienced disruptions due to protests from BJP members after their request for a discussion regarding a contentious comment made by Trinamool Congress legislator Humayun Kabir directed at the Leader of the Opposition, Suvendu Adhikari, was rejected by the Speaker.
Led by the party’s chief whip, Shankar Ghosh, the BJP legislators staged a walkout and protested at the Assembly entrance, demanding, "Kabir should apologize to the Leader of the Opposition," Ghosh stated to reporters.
