The BJP’s eagerness to corner the Mamata Banerjee government is likely to disrupt the ongoing Assembly session as the saffron camp seeks to maximise political gains from some law-and-order problems reported from parts of the state during protests against derogatory comments on Prophet Mohammed by now-axed BJP spokespersons.
Sources said BJP legislators had decided to raise the matter on the floor of the House on Monday. Police prevented the leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, from leaving East Midnapore district for a few hours on Sunday.
“The nose-diving law and order and the way police are cracking down on BJP leaders are major issues for us. We are going to go all out in the Assembly,” said a BJP MLA.
“We will shout slogans in the well of the House, to begin with” he said, adding that seven suspended BJP MLAs, including Adhikari and the party’s chief whip Manoj Tigga, would take part in sloganeering outside the House.
After the BJP emerged as the principal Opposition force in the state after the Assembly polls last year, its MLAs have made a habit of disrupting House proceedings.
The police restricted Adhikari’s movement for almost three hours and the Nandigram MLA was allowed to move only after he sought state chief secretary H.K. Dwivedi’s intervention.
“I’m on my way to my guest house in Kolaghat. From there, I shall move to Calcutta. How can the East Midnapore police stop my movement?” Adhikari, who was stopped at Tamluk’s Radhamoni crossing, asked.
The police said they had learnt from Adhikari’s Twitter handle that he planned to visit some parts of Howrah, which witnessed law and order problems, and since prohibitory orders under Section 144 had been imposed in those areas, he was being prevented from leaving.
“Even if that is the case, let the Howrah rural police speak to me. I will not break any law,” Adhikari was heard telling police officials.
Later, a group of BJP MLAs, including Tigga and Shankar Ghosh, held a dharna at Radhamoni crossing, demanding that the police allow Adhikari’s movement.
Earlier in the day, Adhikari had received a letter from Contai police, requesting him not to visit the affected areas. The police were deployed and barricades were put up around his residence since midnight on Saturday.
Adhikari said he had spoken to the chief secretary and sought his intervention. The BJP’s media cell shared a letter from Adhikari to Dwivedi.
Once he was allowed to move, Adhikari reached the Gandhi statue on Mayo Road in Calcutta to participate in a sit-in demonstration led by Bengal BJP chief Sukanta Majumdar, who was arrested on Saturday, as he tried to reach Howrah by ignoring prohibitory orders. The Balurghat MP decided to initiate the demonstration to protest against the “crumbling law and order” in Bengal.
Both Adhikari and Majumdar said they would move court over the way their movement was restricted by the police. Majumdar didn’t give a date, but Adhikari said his petition would be filed on Monday.
Motion on suspension
On Monday, the BJP MLAs will table a motion in the House, requesting Speaker Biman Banerjee to revoke the suspension of its seven MLAs. In the absence of Adhikari and Tigga, the BJP has tasked MLAs Agnimitra Paul, Bankim Ghosh and Narahari Mahato to oversee its affairs inside the House.
