Inside story behind suspension of two Mamata loyalists from LS and Assembly
As rival TMC factions battle for legitimacy, two of Mamata Banerjee's most vocal loyalists have found themselves suspended in two legislatures on the same day
A Mamata Banerjee loyalist and a vocal MLA in the Bengal Assembly, Kunal Ghosh was on Wednesday suspended for the day and removed from the House by marshals.
While dramatic scenes were playing out in the Assembly in Kolkata, another trusted Mamata loyalist, Kalyan Banerjee, was suspended from the Lok Sabha by the Speaker for the remainder of the Monsoon Session.
Banerjee, known for his acerbic tongue, was suspended from the Lok Sabha after he allegedly got into an altercation with Kakali Ghosh Dastidar, leader of the breakaway faction of MPs who have been allowed by the Speaker to join the National Citizens' Party of Tripura.
Dastidar complained that she and several other MPs of the breakaway faction were called traitors and abused by Banerjee within the Parliament House. A defiant Banerjee dismissed the allegations as baseless and asserted that he would continue to attend Parliament and sit outside.
In Kolkata, Kunal Ghosh protested as the breakaway faction's chief whip, Akhruzzaman, rose to speak during the discussion on the Home department's budget.
Ghosh loudly objected, saying he was supposed to speak but that his name was being repeatedly dropped from the list of speakers. The Assembly Speaker asked Ghosh to return to his seat and, when he refused, suspended him and had him physically removed.
Ghosh later told the media that the rebel faction led by Ritabrata Banerjee was functioning as the BJP's loyal opposition and was avoiding critical references to the budget.
Arguing that the rebel faction was effectively functioning as an extension of the ruling party, Ghosh claimed he was not being allowed to speak because he would have mounted a much stronger attack on the BJP government.
He also alleged that members of the rebel camp had contacted him and advised him to join their ranks, assuring him that he could then speak as much as he wanted. The MLAs loyal to Mamata Banerjee, 20 of the 80 elected on a Trinamool Congress ticket, staged a walkout after Ghosh was evicted.
The chief whip of the rebel faction, Akhruzzaman, defended his decision, saying there was not enough time for all 80 MLAs to speak and that it was his prerogative to decide who would participate in the discussion.
"We will decide who gets to speak and who doesn't," he declared.
The breakaway MPs from the Trinamool Congress have joined the NCP, an unrecognised party in Tripura which did not have a single MLA or MP but now boasts 20 MPs and has become the second-largest constituent of the NDA after the BJP.
The 60 rebel MLAs in West Bengal, however, claim to be the "real" and "original" Trinamool Congress and have been recognised as such by the Assembly Speaker. The dispute is yet to be settled by the Election Commission of India, which will decide which faction gets the party symbol and is recognised as the official Trinamool Congress.