Kolkata: Protests marked the West Bengal assembly after Leader of Opposition Surjya Kanta Mishra’s question on naming a township Jyoti Basu Nagar was “arbitrarily changed”.
The trouble started after the day’s proceedings began with the question hour. Mishra complained to speaker Biman Banerjee the format of the query which he had submitted earlier had been “arbitrarily changed”.
The speaker allowed Mishra to read the question in the format he had submitted, and Minister for Urban Development Firhad Hakim replied, but the opposition was far from satisfied.
Left Front members held noisy protests.
Mishra accused Hakim of misleading the house on the status of the New Town Kolkata Development Authority (Amendment) Bill, 2011, passed during the erstwhile Left Front regime rechristening New Town Kolkata as Jyoti Basu Nagar.
Mishra claimed Hakim had spoken a lie by saying Governor M K Narayanan returned the bill without giving his assent. On the contrary, Narayanan told Left Front MLAs on Tuesday he was unaware of it.
The Left Front members tore papers, displayed posters against the government move to withdraw a legislation naming New Town Kolkata as Jyoti Basu Nagar, and walked into the well of the house, raising slogans. The speaker continued the business of the house, but nothing could be heard in the pandemonium, as Left Front lawmakers refused to heed Banerjee’s repeated requests to return to their seats.
IANS
