BJP Leader's Arrest Threat In Bengal Assembly Draws Warning From Speaker

After Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari of the BJP said inside the Assembly on Friday that a minister will be put behind bars within a month, Speaker Biman Banerjee cautioned that such comments should not be made in the House.

Several leaders of the ruling Trinamool Congress were arrested by the CBI and the ED in the recent past in connection with the alleged school jobs scam and cattle smuggling cases.

Adhikari and Partha Bhowmik got embroiled in a verbal exchange over switching sides of a few members to the ruling Trinamool Congress after winning on BJP tickets in the 2021 assembly elections.

Several BJP MLAs have joined the TMC since 2021 without resigning from the assembly.

The LoP's sharp retort about putting Bhowmik behind bars came after the minister asked Adhikari which party his father Sisir Adhikari, who had won the Lok Sabha election from Kanthi on the TMC ticket, is at present.

The TMC has been seeking cancellation of his Lok Sabha membership under the Anti-Defection Act alleging that he has joined the BJP.

The saffron party has also demanded that the BJP members who have switched sides to the TMC be disqualified under the same law.

Following the verbal exchange between the LoP and the minister, the Speaker said that Adhikari made an undesirable comment towards a ruling party member that he will be put behind bars within a month.

The Speaker cautioned that such comments should not be made inside the House.

The verbal exchange took place during a discussion on the budgetary demands for the state's panchayat department.

Seeking the intervention of the Speaker, Bhowmik said that he is apprehensive about his security because of the comments of the BJP leader.

Terming the comment as unfortunate, Banerjee said that the House will look into the minister's apprehension over his safety.

The Speaker told Bhowmik that he may consider giving notice for initiating a privilege motion against the BJP leader.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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