Can't deport Bangla-speaking people to Bangladesh, says TMC MP in LS; BJP hits back

New Delhi, Dec 5 (PTI) Heated exchanges between Trinamool Congress and BJP MPs were witnessed in the Lok Sabha on Friday after TMC's Shatabdi Roy said Bangla-speaking people are being deported to Bangladesh and asserted that language cannot be a consideration for authorities for taking such steps.

Raising the issue during the Zero Hour in the House in Bangla, Roy referred to the case of a person being deported to Bangladesh from Odisha.

When Krishna Prasad Tenneti, chairing the proceedings, asked Roy to place her demand, she continued speaking. When the time allocated to her was over, her microphone was switched off.

As Jugal Kishore of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) started speaking after her, Roy, along with fellow TMC MP Mahua Moitra, rushed across to Kishore's seat and started speaking in his microphone.

Tenneti urged Roy to return to her seat, saying Kishore's seat is not her place. BJP MP Jagdambika Pal was seen trying to convince the agitated TMC MPs to return to their seats.

When BJP MP Sambit Patra's turn came, he countered Roy.

"This is not based on facts.... This is false, this is untrue. Odisha has, since ancient times, moved forward by taking all states along. Bengali-speaking people are our brothers and those who speak Bengali.... We consider them as our own.... But neither the Odisha government nor any MP or MLA of Odisha has any place in their heart for infiltrators -- for Bangladeshis or Rohingyas -- to be allowed space in Odisha," he said. PTI ASK/NAB UZM RC