The Congress and the Left Front Monday boycotted the Assembly session for a day after the Speaker did not allow them to discuss the issues of disparity in pay structure of primary teachers. When Leader of Opposition Abdul Mannan on Monday raised the issue and sought a discussion on the matter, Assembly Speaker Biman Banerjee rejected his demand. As a result, Congress and Left Front MLAs staged a walkout from the Assembly and later boycotted the House for the day. “The Opposition is not allowed inside the House to speak on an issue. We are prevented whenever we try to bring any motion to discuss an issue,” said Mannan. State Education Minister Partha Chatterjee, however, said that the Opposition is only interested in disturbing the House with baseless allegations. “They don’t want the House to function. They only want to disrupt it,” he said. It may be noted that the Opposition had boycotted the House till November 22 after they were not allowed to discuss the alleged starvation deaths of seven tribal people in West Midnapore district.
