Ruckus in Bengal Assembly as BJP seeks action against Firhad Hakim

Kolkata: The West Bengal Assembly witnessed a major ruckus on Friday as BJP MLAs staged a protest and walkout demanding termination of Minister of Municipal Affairs and Urban Development and Kolkata Mayor, Firhad Hakim as MLA.

On Friday, Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari submitted an adjournment motion proposal seeking discussion on a recent comment by Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim at a community gathering seeking spread of Islam among non-Muslims.

However, Speaker Biman Bandopadhyay, refused to admit that adjournment motion.

Thereafter, BJP legislators came into the Well of the House carrying copies of the Bhagavad Gita and started protesting.

Ignoring their slogans, the Speaker continued with the proceedings of the House, after which the BJP legislators staged a walk out and started protesting in the Assembly lobby.

“Firhad Hakim went to a gathering organised by a religious body as a minister as well as the city mayor. There he made such controversial statements. Our demand to the Speaker was simple, the minister should apologise. But the Speaker did not even allow us to read out the adjournment motion. The Speaker’s contention was that the matter was not related to the Assembly or state government,” LoP Adhikari told media persons later.

The LoP said that since the minister had taken oath according to the provisions of the Constitution of India, he had no right to insult people coming from other communities.

“We demand termination of his chair as MLA. In the coming days, we will organise a statewide protest in support of this demand,” the LoP said.