The relation between the Mamata Banerjee government and the Opposition Left Front soured further after former MLAs and MPs of the Left Front were not allowed inside the Assembly premises to observe the birthday of former chief minister late Jyoti Basu. The Opposition observed the programme in front of one of the entry gates of the Assembly and virtually turned it into a small rally on the road.
The Left Front had boycotted Basu’s birthday celebration programme on July 6 organised by the state government, reasoning that birthday of a personality cannot be observed on any other day. Basu’s birthday falls on July 8. The Left Front was scheduled to observe it on Sunday at 11.30 am at the Assembly lobby. The Speaker had also given the necessary permission.
At around 11.15 am, some Left Front MLAs and few former MLAs and MPs, including former Assembly Speaker Hashim Abdul Halim, assembled outside the west gate of the Assembly. However, Assembly marshall Debabrata Mukhopadhyay told them that only present members could go in. The Left leaders protested and got into a heated exchange with the marshall and other security personnel.
Former CPI(M) MLA Nizamuddin showed his identity card and told the marshall that as a former MLA he had every right to enter the Assembly, but the marshall refused, claiming that it was the Speaker’s order. At that time, Leader of the Opposition Surjya Kanta Mishra arrived at the spot. He asked the marshall to show the copy of the order. The marshall replied saying, “What I am telling you is the order.” Dr Mishra then called up the Speaker over his mobilephone. “Sir, former MLAs, ex-ministers, many of them old, are standing outside the Assembly. Are they criminals? All of them have identity cards. But your marshall is obstructing them. Kindly instruct him to let them in,” he urged the Speaker.
However, disconnecting the phone, Dr Mishra told his colleagues that the present MLAs would only pay floral tributes to Basu’s portrait in the Assembly lobby and the former legislators would pay tributes outside the Assembly. Dr Mishra along with the present MLAs and Mr Halim entered the Assembly.
On the other hand, a portrait of Basu was brought in from the CPI(M)’s state party headquarters at Alimuddin Street and fixed with wires at the west gate. First, Mr Halim offered his floral tribute to Basu followed by others.
Later Dr Mishra said, “The Speaker told me today that we had to submit a list of the persons who would enter the Assembly. However, on Friday, he did not say anything about this list. Since we did not attend Basu’s birthday programme on July 6, the government smacked of political vendetta today.”
Mr Halim said, “Today’s incident is an unparliamentary one. Former MLAs are card-holders of this Assembly and can come here any day. During my last five years as the Speaker (Mr Halim was Speaker from 1982 to 2011), Partha Chatterjee was the Leader of Opposition. Had he written me every time?”
On being contacted, Speaker Biman Banerjee said, “They have staged a drama today with political motive. Being a Sunday today, security staff were not adequate. If any untoward incident had happened, the entire responsibility would have come on me as the custodian of the House and that is why I had asked for the list. If they had submitted the list to the marshall, I would have given the permission. But they did not. They are not following the rules, norms and procedures of the Assembly.”