Six BJP MLAs Suspended from West Bengal's Assembly

Sources said that the six BJP MLAs including the Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari were suspended by the Speaker of the West Bengal Assembly following an uproar over the recent Sandeshkhali violence.

Kolkata (West Bengal): Six BJP leaders, including West Bengal Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari have been suspended from the West Bengal Assembly for the remainder of the session over "unruly and disorderly behavior” amid an uproar over the recent Sandeshkhali violence, sources said. It is learnt that besides Adhikari, five other BJP MLAs including Agnimitra Paul, Mihir Goswami, Bankim Ghosh, Tapasi Mondal and Shankar Ghosh were suspended for the remainder of the West Bengal Assembly session over "unruly and disorderly behavior inside the Assembly."

The BJP MLAs have been suspended under Rule 348 of the State Assembly. The motion to suspend the BJP MLAs was moved by Minister of Parliamentary Affairs of West Bengal, Sovandeb Chattopadhyay, and placed before the House by the Speaker. Reacting to the suspension, LoP Suvendu Adhikari said that the BJP will “continue to raise its voice for the respect of women."

Sources said that as soon as the assembly proceedings started on Monday, the BJP MLAs started shouting slogans against the TMC government for the unrest in Sandeshkhali in North 24 Parganas district, which has snowballed into a major political controversy. The BJP legislators' protest led to a ruckus inside the assembly.

Later, Speaker Biman Banerjee 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. The suspension of the BJP MLAs comes in the backdrop of massive protest by a large number of women in Sandeshkhali 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.

The women protesters have demanded the arrest of Shajahan who remains 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 agency inputs)