India News | Constitution Day Debate Turns Acrimonious in Bengal Assembly, TMC, BJP Trade Barbs

Kolkata, Nov 27 (PTI) The debate over the resolution to commemorate the Constitution Day in the West Bengal Assembly on Wednesday ended on an acrimonious note with the BJP staging a walkout and the TMC and the saffron camp accusing each other of undermining the Constitution and eroding the federal structure of the country.

Speaker Biman Bandopadhyay had moved the resolution to mark the completion of 75 years of the adoption of the Constitution of India on Tuesday.

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The resolution, however, included sharp criticism of the central government, alleging that it was dismantling the federal framework and using central agencies to instill a "culture of threat" across the country.

Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari strongly objected to the language of the resolution, describing it as a "political pamphlet" of the TMC.

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He accused the Speaker of violating the principles of impartiality by using the chair to attack the central government and its investigative agencies such as the ED and CBI.

"This resolution was expected to honour the solemnity of the occasion but instead served as a medium to launch political attacks. Such conduct undermines the neutrality of the Speaker's office," Adhikari said after the session.

He has written to Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, urging them to take note of the matter.

"This Constitution Day, when our nation celebrated the solemn occasion of 75 years since India's Constitution was adopted, a resolution to commemorate the special occasion was introduced by the Hon'ble Speaker Shri Biman Bandopadhyay, in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly. However, the resolution not only threatened the spirit of consensus the solemn occasion demanded, but also included politically charged statements aimed at the central government, with the sole objective to tarnish their image," Adhikari posted on X.

"The political resolution also undermined the efficacy of the central investigative agencies. I have written a letter to the Hon'ble Vice President of India & the Chairman of Rajya Sabha; Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar Ji and Shri Om Birla Ji; the Hon'ble Speaker of the Lok Sabha, elucidating how the resolution document appeared more to be a party leaflet of Trinamool Congress rather than a significant chronicle to commemorate such an important day, which was introduced by none other than the Hon'ble Speaker of WB Assembly, whom we expect to essay the role of a non-partisan character while occupying the chair," he added.

On the second day of discussions on the Constitution in the assembly, the Speaker, in his concluding remarks, said that the assembly itself stands as a testament to the democracy in the state.

"Here, the opposition has the freedom to say whatever they want. They are not marshalled out of the House," he remarked.

He claimed that democracy is more robust in the state compared to other parts of the country.

Earlier, the opposition bench, during the discussion in the assembly, accused the government of stifling democracy.

In response, the Speaker pointed out that after the 2021 elections, when the opposition had 77 MLAs, 37 out of the 42 permanent committees in the assembly included opposition members, and 10 were given chairperson positions.

However, he noted, some resigned from their roles.

The Speaker also alleged that despite invitations, the leader of the opposition and other members from the party have consistently boycotted events, including the platinum jubilee celebrations of the assembly.

The chief whip of the opposition, Shankar Ghosh, criticised the government for failing to uphold democratic principles.

"Those who have vandalised the assembly in the past and frequently threaten to silence the opposition should not talk about democracy," he said.

BJP MLA Agnimitra Paul accused the state government of misusing the Constitution and violating the fundamental rights of the people and opposition parties.

Countering these claims, ruling party leaders, including Sovandeb Chattopadhyay, Snehasis Chakraborty, and Siddiqullah Chowdhury, accused the central government of violating the constitution and undermining democracy.

After the discussion, the BJP staged a walkout from the assembly.

The resolution was passed in the assembly through voice vote.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)