Bengal Assembly: Seeking jailed minister’s suspension from House, BJP stages walkout

Mallick was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in a PMLA case linked to the ration scam on October 27.

BJP MLAs Shankar Ghosh and Agnimitra Paul brought the motion, two days after party MLA and Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari was suspended for the entire winter session after he allegedly made objectionable remarks against the Speaker in the House.

Ghosh told reporters, “The arrest of a people’s representative and a member of the state cabinet has lowered the dignity of the House. We demand that unless the minister is proven innocent by the investigating agency and in the court, he should not be allowed to continue as an MLA. As no such step has been taken by the Speaker and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee against Mallick even a month after his arrest, we demand the issue to be discussed in the Assembly.”

Later, the BJP members staged a sit-in at the Assembly’s entrance. Suvendu Adhikari also joined in the protest later.

Meanwhile, TMC MLAs staged a protest in front of the Ambedkar statue in Assembly complex for the third straight day, protesting against the non-payment of Central dues to West Bengal. On Wednesday, CM Mamata Banerjee had joined the protest and slammed the BJP-government at the Centre for depriving the people of Bengal by withholding funds meant for them.