JOIN USWB BJP MLAs walk out of Assembly during Governor's address
The ‘bonhomie’ observed in recent weeks, between the Raj Bhavan and the Trinamool-led state government, in West Bengal, was greeted stiffly, on Wednesday, by the BJP legislators of the Opposition.
The Opposition party’s MLAs began raising slogans as soon as Governor CV Ananda Bose finished expressing condolences, and proceeded to speak about the state government's initiatives, while addressing the House at the commencement of the assembly’s first session of the year.
With the governor continuing to deliver his speech, the BJP MLAs walked out of the House. A "shame-shame" slogan was also raised, as BJP MLA Suvendu Adhikari, also the Leader of the Opposition, and other BJP MLAs, left the House. Governor Bose, however, continued and completed his speech, as Trinamool MLAs maintained complete calm, with occasional thumping of the desk, appreciating the speech.
The BJP MLAs also protested close to the governor’s car, with placards, including one that stated, ”Catch thieves without fail. Pack them inside jail”, hinting at the alleged corruption in the state. A BJP MLA who protested, said that the governor had read out something which was not ‘true’, and we can’t accept it.
In the speech, the governor stated: “Under the stewardship of my chief minister, the preceding year passed off peacefully and the government is ever alert to maintain law and order and communal harmony in the state”.
"I hope, the Centre would release the funds soon in the interest of poor people," the governor stated, while speaking about MGNREGA, rural housing and rural roads. Towards the end of his speech, mentioning that the state is committed to uphold tenets of “cooperative federalism”, Bose added: “In spite of facing innumerable challenges both from within and without, my government is steadfast in its course to withstand all possible assaults on the secular fabric of our state.”
Adhikari, talking to reporters, highlighted a few instances to question whether peace prevails in the state, as was stated in the speech. He clarified that the ‘shame-shame’ slogan was raised, aimed at the language used, in the context of the governor's (analogical) comparison of Banerjee with eminent figures – AB Vajpayee, Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, and APJ Abdul Kalam – when he had addressed another function earlier this week. Adhikari said that the governor is being ‘misguided’, and the dissent expressed is not against the governor but the speech.
Firhad Hakim, Trinamool leader and minister in the state government termed the sloganeering as “unfortunate”, and “unconstitutional” as the post of the Governor, like the President’s, or of the Justices’, is a constitutional one.