Mamata, Suvendu's joint stand: assembly passes motion against division

Kolkata: In a rare display of mutual respect, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday appreciated Leader of Opposition (LoP) Suvendu Adhikari in the Assembly for supporting a motion against the division of the state.

A motion against the issue was moved in the state Assembly on the 11th day of the ongoing monsoon session by the treasury bench on Monday with both Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and the Leader of Opposition, Suvendu Adhikari, participating in the debate.

The Chief Minister gave a call to the opposition BJP to get united on the issue of reported “attempts to divide West Bengal”. She appreciated LoP Suvendu Adhikari in the House for supporting the motion and complimented him for his participation in the motion against attempts to divide the state.

After the state Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Sovandeb Chattopadhyay moved the motion, a debate on the matter started. The LoP said that no one in the BJP had ever given a call for division for West Bengal. “The motion looks like a leaflet of a particular political party, where versions of some individuals were misinterpreted,” Adhikari said.

Thereafter, he gave a proposal to include a clause of “united approach for development of undivided West Bengal”. The Speaker of the House, Biman Bandopadhyay then told the LoP that the latter could have moved his proposal in the form of an amendment.

Thereafter the Chief Minister rose to speak and agreed to the proposal from the LoP to be included in the motion. “West Bengal will remain united. I will request the state Parliamentary affairs minister to include the proposal from the leader of the opposition in the motion. I believe in federal democracy. Just as the Union government will cooperate with the state government, there will be reciprocation from the state as well,” she said.

At the end of the debate, the motion was passed unanimously by the ruling and opposition legislators present in the House.

Political observers feel that such a display of mutual courtesy between the treasury and the opposition benches in the state Assembly had been rare in the recent past, where the opposition BJP legislators have again and again staged protests and walkouts from the House on various issues.

To recall, a recent statement by BJP Lok Sabha member from Jharkhand Nishikant Dubey in Parliament proposing the creation of a separate union territory forked out of some portions of Bihar, Jharkhand and the two West Bengal districts of Malda and Murshidabad, had attracted scathing criticisms from Trinamool Congress. Thereafter, the state’s ruling party decided to move a motion against “attempts to divide West Bengal”.

Source: IANS