The Leader of Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, on Friday criticized the Speaker of the Assembly, Biman Banerjee, for rejecting the BJP’s adjournment motion seeking a debate on the controversial remarks made by Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim.
Suvendu Adhikari alleged that the Speaker’s decision to disallow the adjournment motion was politically motivated.
“We lodged a complaint against the inappropriate remarks by Firhad Hakim, who is both the mayor of Kolkata and a member of Mamata Banerjee’s party. The Speaker, motivated by politics, rejected the adjournment motion,” Adhikari told reporters.
“The Speaker stated that this subject is not related to the state government. In an event, Firhad Hakim remarked that those born in other religions are very unfortunate,” he added.
Earlier in the day, Adhikari submitted an adjournment motion proposal seeking a discussion on Firhad Hakim’s comment made at a community gathering.
After the Speaker refused to admit the adjournment motion, BJP MLAs protested and came to the Well of the House. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) demanded the resignation of Firhad Hakim.
Meanwhile, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced on Friday that she would protest against the political discrimination faced by Bengal at the NITI Aayog meeting in Delhi on Saturday, July 27.
Before leaving for Delhi, the All India Trinamool Congress Chairman said, “I will protest against the political discrimination being done to Bengal at the NITI Aayog meeting. In the budget, the way they have discriminated against Bengal and other opposition states, we can’t agree to that.”
She further stated that the BJP ministers and leaders’ attitude is such that they want to divide Bengal while also imposing economic and geographical blockades on the state.
“The attitude of their ministers and BJP leaders is such that they want to divide Bengal. Along with the economic blockade, they also want to impose a geographical blockade. The Minister said this while Parliament was in session. Different leaders are making statements to divide Jharkhand, Bihar, Assam, and Bengal. We strongly condemn this attitude,” she said.
