TMC to move motion on ‘conspiracy to divide Bengal’ in Assembly on August 5

Kolkata: The Trinamool Congress will move a special motion to condemn the alleged ongoing “conspiracies to divide West Bengal” on the floor of the Assembly on August 5, which will be the last day of the Monsoon Session.

State Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Sovandeb Chattopadhyay, said the decision to move the motion was taken at a meeting of the Business Advisory Committee in the Assembly on Tuesday.

“The BJP seems confused and divided on this issue. While one group is for the division of Bengal, the other group is against it. So we are bringing this motion so that the BJP legislators can participate in the debate on it and express their views,” Chattopadhyay said.

The decision to move the motion on this issue comes a day after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee during her address in the House on Monday said that the Trinamool Congress will resist all attempts to divide West Bengal.

Her comments came in the wake of a recent observation made by a BJP Lok Sabha member from Jharkhand, Nishikant Dubey demanding formation of a new Union Territory through the bifurcation of certain districts of Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal, which was seconded by BJP legislator from Murshidabad Assembly constituency Gouri Sankar Ghosh.

It is learnt that the Chief Minister will be present in the Assembly on August 5 when the motion is moved and discussions sought.

Party insiders said that with the Chief Minister being present in the House on that day, it is natural that she will be the principal speaker on behalf of the Treasury Benches.

Although the BJP’s Chief Whip in West Bengal Assembly, Shankar Ghosh, described the proposed motion as a move to create political controversy over the issue, the party’s legislators will still participate in the debate so that their views can be highlighted and recorded.

Meanwhile, speaking on the decision by the BJP to move a No Confidence Motion against the Speaker on Monday, Chattopadhyay said that anyone has the right to do that.

“However, there is a procedure for submitting that motion,” Chattopadhyay said, referring to the development that instead of moving it on the floor of the House, the BJP MLAs submitted the proposal on the No Confidence Motion to the office of Assembly Secretary Sukumar Roy.