BJP seeks no-trust motion against Biman Banerjee

 Move comes amidst recent row over portions of speeches delivered by Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge

Speaker Biman Banerjee: File picture

Arkamoy Datta Majumdar   |  TT  |  Calcutta   | 14.02.23 : The legislative party of the BJP submitted a proposal on Monday to bring a no-confidence motion against Assembly Speaker Biman Banerjee for expunging sections of the speech delivered by leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari.

The move comes amidst a recent row over portions of the speeches delivered by Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge being expunged from the records of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha respectively.

“I had said that the chief minister is conducting meetings at the district levels. She has the right to do so. But she cannot divert funds from the mid-day meal scheme, from funds to acquire land for national highways and railways or from funds for the SC ST Development Corporation. Then I had said that she (the chief minister) has allowed some IAS and IPS officers to live in government accommodation as well as draw the HRA… The chief minister instructed the Speaker to expunge these points from the records of the House. The Speaker shamelessly asked his secretariat to expunge these points,” Adhikari said after BJP lawmakers walked out of the Assembly under his leadership on Monday.

“The BJP legislative party has decided that we will move a no-confidence motion against the Speaker according to the law,” Adhikari added.

Later, BJP lawmakers wrote to the secretary of the House proposing a motion of no-confidence against the Speaker. The motion will be tabled in the House at a later date.

Reacting to the move, Banerjee told journalists that the Opposition had the right to move a no-confidence against him and they have done so. The Speaker said he would look into the proposal and decide upon it.

During his interaction with the media, Adhikari referred to Gandhi’s speech in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday where he attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the latter’s alleged bonhomie with industrialist Gautam Adani.

According to the LoP, Gandhi’s speech was not expunged from the records and BJP MPs, along with Modi, listened to him and the Prime Minister gave a “befitting” reply the next day.

However, when The Telegraph asked for his views on the Congress’s allegations that 18 points from Gandhi’s speech and several sections from Kharge’s speech delivered in Rajya Sabha on Wednesday were expunged from the records of the respective Houses, Adhikari claimed that the main portions of the speech weren’t expunged.

“I’ve heard the proceedings of Parliament. The main portions of their speech weren’t expunged. Only the unconstitutional portions were,” he said.