The BJP walked out from the West Bengal Assembly after the Speaker denied their demand for a statement by the TMC-led government on why police suspended Internet services in Sainthia during Holi. On Tuesday, after the session started, BJP opposition chief whip Shankar Ghosh demanded the statement.
Speaker Biman Banerjee carried on with the Assembly session after he denied the BJP’s demand, following which party MLAs walked out in front of the Assembly gate. There, Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, who is currently suspended from the Assembly, joined them in a protest.
Amid Holi celebrations on March 14, people of two communities clashed in the city of Sainthia in the Birbhum district and some were injured. After that, armed forces were deployed in the area, and the Internet was suspended in Sainthia from March 15 to 8 pm on March 17. Twenty-one people were arrested in connection with the incident.
Adhikari said to the media, “The Assembly is for demanding answers from the government and they are bound to give answers. However, here, the Speaker is not impartial and does not obey the Constitution. He only supports the ruling party.”
He said, “Small states like Puducherry, Goa, and Manipur also have live-telecast Assembly sessions, but the West Bengal Assembly never does. People have the right to see what their representatives are doing at Parliament.”
Police had earlier said that Internet services were suspended to take control of the area and prevent unnecessary rumours from spreading. According to police, the altercation had begun when a group of youths, who were playing music, were asked to stop by members of another community. The situation escalated into stone-pelting.
The police order stated, “Any data-related message or class of messages… transmitted or received by any telecommunication service or telecommunication network under the ambit of Telecommunications Act, 2023, shall temporarily not be transmitted in the interest of maintaining public order and preventing incitement to the commission of any offence within the geographical area of the Sainthia town area, Hatora Gram Panchayat (GP) Mathpalsa GP, Harisara GP, Dariyapur GP, and Fulur GP area under Sainthia police station of the Sainthia community development block in Birbhum revenue district, under the Birbhum police district.”