Bengal BJP MLAs stage sit-in on Assembly premises against Mamata Banerjee govt

Kolkata: BJP legislators led by Suvendu Adhikari on Tuesday staged a sit-in on the premises of the West Bengal Assembly in protest against alleged appeasement politics by the Mamata Banerjee government.

Shouting slogans like 'Murti bhangar sarkar aar nei darkar' (We don’t want a government that cannot stop vandalism of Puja pandals), around 30 BJP legislators squatted on the stairs leading to the main entrance of the Assembly hall.

This comes a day after four BJP legislators — Adhikari, Agnimitra Paul, Bankim Ghosh, and Biswanath Karak — were suspended on Monday for alleged unruly behaviour.

Speaking to reporters, Adhikari said, "We are not fighting against any community. We are against this government, which has failed to prevent vandalisation of Durga, Lakshmi, and Kartik idols in parts of Bengal in recent times."

"We oppose the attempt to stop Saraswati Puja in educational institutions. The state government has taken no action against the perpetrators," he added.

Adhikari said BJP MLAs would hold a parallel session outside the Assembly to highlight issues faced by the people of the state under the TMC government, including alleged efforts to suppress the festivals of the majority community.

Regarding the privilege motion moved against him by the TMC and its acceptance by the Speaker, Adhikari remarked, "I have been suspended three or four times by this House, and privilege motions have been moved against me before. This is because I have consistently raised my voice against the ruling party’s appeasement policies, corruption, and attempts to stifle democracy. But they cannot silence me."