L-R: Union Home Minister Amit Shah, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Credit: PTI Photos
Kolkata: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee called Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah "thieves" as the West Bengal Assembly witnessed uproar and a fierce war of words between the members of the ruling Trinamool Congress and the opposition BJP.
As soon as Mamata rose to speak on the concluding day of the special session of the Assembly, BJP MLAs started repeatedly interrupting her and raised slogans, calling the TMC government and its leaders "thieves".
They were protesting against the suspension of state BJP heavyweight and Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari from the Assembly on September 2 for the entire session.
As his appeals to BJP MLAs to stop interrupting the CM failed, Speaker Biman Banerjee suspended five of them. Two BJP MLAs collapsed while being escorted out by the marshals.
“Modi is the biggest thief. Modi thief, Amit Shah thief, BJP thief,” said Mamata, responding to the BJP sloganeering. “The BJP is a ‘vote chor’ (vote stealer). It has stolen the people's mandate.”
Adhikari later told journalists outside the House: “What happened today is the darkest day in the history of Bengal's legislature. If they don't want the Leader of the Opposition or BJP MLAs in the House, we will boycott the sessions”.
The TMC government convened this special Assembly session to discuss the atrocities against Bengali-speaking migrant workers from West Bengal in other states — particularly in Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Odisha, as well as in the National Capital Territory of Delhi.
“You are against Bengali. We are not against any language. 'Jana Gana Mana' would not have been the national anthem of India had you been in power. You say speaking Bengali makes one anti-national. The people will not forgive you,” said Mamata.