West Bengal Assembly Passes Proposal to Form a Legislative Council

The resolution for the formation of a Legislative Council was passed after 196 of 265 MLAs voted in favour of it.

Mamata Banerjee and Suvendu Adhikari. Image used for representational purposes. 

(Image: The Quint)

The West Bengal Assembly on Tuesday, 6 July, passed a resolution for the establishment of a Legislative Council in the state after 196 of 265 MLAs voted in favour of it.

The proposal was moved amid dispute as Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) suggested that the resolution was an instance of "backdoor politics", PTI reported.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Partha Chatterjee had moved the proposal labelled ‘Consideration of report of the ad-hoc committee to examine the recommendation for creation of a Legislative Council’ under Rule 169 of the Procedures of Conduct of Business of the House amid 265 MLAs.

However, the proposal would require an approval from the Governor, following which a Parliamentary Bill will need to be passed for the resolution to come into effect.

At present, the states of Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Telangana have a Legislative Council.

BJP Protests

In the background of the revival of the council, the BJP alleged that the Trinamool Congress is working towards getting party leaders elected as lawmakers despite having lost the Assembly polls, PTI reported.

The party also reportedly contended that the proposal would put the state exchequer under pressure.

Verbal Dispute in Assembly, Adhikari Walks Out

Meanwhile, the Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the state Assembly Suvendu Adhikari, along with other BJP MLAs staged a walk-out from the House on Tuesday, after the party got into a verbal dispute with MLAs of the treasury bench, IANS reported.

The argument snowballed after Adhikari mentioned CM Mamata Banerjee's defeat in the Assembly elections in his speech.

Adhikari had won Nandirgram by a thin margin in the recently-conducted Assembly elections, defeating the present CM.

During the speech, Speaker Biman Banerjee interrupted Adhikari and asserted that the matter is sub-judice and cannot be mentioned in the Assembly, IANS reported.

Adhikari contended this, following which MLAs of the treasury bench started shouting and many BJP MLAs staged a walk-out.

Addressing the press after the chaos, Adhikari said, "When I was speaking, one ruling party MLA used unparliamentary words against my father. I asked the Speaker to expunge the words and take action against the concerned MLA and he said he would see to it. This Speaker has become a party-man who is throttling the voice of democracy. His weakness towards the party (Trinamool Congress) has been exposed and so I felt that it is useless to stay in the House," IANS quoted.

He then went on to talk about the violence that erupted in the state after the Assembly polls, saying,"We moved an adjournment motion against the post-poll violence but that was rejected. Yet we stayed inside the House. The ruling party MLAs were taunting us, yet we decided to respect democracy and stay, but if we cannot say anything, what is the use of staying inside the House?"

He added, "We have come here to speak about the people and if we can't do that, we will not stay. Everyone has now seen the language-terrorism and muscle power of Trinamool Congress."

(With inputs from IANS and PTI)