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TMC MLA demands state flag for West Bengal at Assembly

Balagarh party MLA Manoranjan Byapari raised the issue when the Chief Minister and Speaker were not present in the House

TMC MLA Manoranjan Byapari, west bengal, assembly, indian express

Balagarh TMC MLA Manoranjan Byapari appealed for a state flag in West Bengal, citing the existence of state days and songs. (Source: PTI Photo)

Balagarh TMC MLA Manoranjan Byapari on Wednesday demanded that West Bengal have a state flag. In the Assembly, he said, “If we have a state day and state song, we should also have a separate flag for our state. Many states like Karnataka have a state flag and when I see that, I feel proud.”

Coming out from the Assembly, he said, “…The Hon’ble Chief Minister gave us state music. The state is grateful to her. However, there is no flag in our state.”

Byapari raised the issue during a question-answer session when Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Speaker Biman Banerjee were not present in the House. Deputy Speaker Ashish Banerjee was conducting the house. BJP MLAs had also walked out from the Assembly.

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Later, BJP MLA Shankar Ghosh said, “I think he is now in trouble in his constituency. So, by saying such things, he is trying to be close to the Chief Minister. We know the Chief Minister always becomes happy hearing such things.”

Another BJP MLA Subrata Maitra said, “Kashmir had a separate flag when there was Article 370. He (Byapari) wants to make Kashmir here.”

Monoranjan Byapari, known as a prominent Dalit author, was a rickshaw puller in his early life. Banerjee made him the MLA candidate in 2021 from Balagarh and he won. He is also the Chairman of the Dalit Sahitya Academy of West Bengal.

Atri Mitra

Atri Mitra is a Special Correspondent of The Indian Express with more than 20 years of experience in reporting from West Bengal, Bihar and the North-East. He has been covering administration and political news for more than ten years and has a keen interest in political development in West Bengal. Atri holds a Master degree in Economics from Rabindrabharati University and Bachelor's degree from Calcutta University. He is also an alumnus of St. Xavier's, Kolkata and Ramakrishna Mission Asrama, Narendrapur. He started his career with leading vernacular daily the Anandabazar Patrika, and worked there for more than fifteen years. He worked as Bihar correspondent for more than three years for Anandabazar Patrika. He covered the 2009 Lok Sabha election and 2010 assembly elections. He also worked with News18-Bangla and covered the Bihar Lok Sabha election in 2019. ... Read More

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