Cong, Trinamool, BJP boycott Basu's speech, stage walkout

Cong, Trinamool, BJP boycott Basu's speech, stage walkout
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

CALCUTTA, MARCH 8: Opposition Congress and Trinamool Congress on Wednesday boycotted Chief Minister Jyoti Basu's speech on the motion of thanks to Governor's address and staged a noisy walkout in the West Bengal Assembly.

The lone BJP member too joined them in the walkout which the Opposition resorted to as a mark of protest against the Chief Minister's absence on the first day of the debate on the Governor's address in the Budget session as also during the CLP leader's speech yesterday.

In his scathing attack on the Opposition, the octogenarian Chief Minister condemned the Congress and the Trinamool Congress for, what he termed, lowering the dignity of the House by physically obstructing the Governor during his speech and resorting to violent acts on March two.

Basu said it was amazing that Congress leadership had neither censured its MLAs for such nuisance nor taken any action. He denied reports in a section of the press that some of the ministers were involved in confrontation with the members.

The Chief Minister had a dig at those members who were aligned to Trinamool Congress despite being elected on Congress tickets. He said it was difficult to differentiate between those members in the House.

An angry Basu urged the Speaker not to allow school children to watch such proceedings which were marked by violence in the august house, which he said, would send a wrong signal to the people about the parliamentary democracy.

The Congress, Trinamool Congress and the BJP members returned to the House at the end of Basu's speech.

The motion, moved by Gauripada Dutta (CPI-M), was later adopted by the House by 155-33 votes with two abstention.