Marshall removes BJP MLAs from assembly, Dipak Barman suspended; BJP walks out crying 'insult'

The West Bengal Assembly witnessed a major uproar during the second phase of the Budget session as BJP MLAs staged a walkout in protest. Speaker Biman Banerjee ordered marshals to remove BJP MLAs Shankar Ghosh and Manoj Oraon from the House for raising slogans, while Falakata BJP MLA Dipak Barman was suspended for allegedly misbehaving with the Speaker and tearing official documents.

The tensions began when BJP MLA Hiran Chattopadhyay was speaking on the Budget approval. Sources indicate that his microphone was turned off before his allotted time ended, leading to a verbal exchange with the Speaker. The Speaker reportedly told him, “Saying all this won’t benefit you,” to which Hiran responded, “Why are you interfering in what will or won’t benefit me?” The exchange led to an escalation of protests from BJP legislators.

Following the disruption, BJP MLAs Manoj Oraon and Shankar Ghosh began shouting slogans inside the House. Despite warnings from the Speaker to stop, they continued, leading him to call marshals to remove them. As the situation intensified, Speaker Banerjee also suspended Dipak Barman, citing misconduct and violation of House decorum.

The removal of BJP MLAs triggered a strong reaction from the opposition, with all BJP legislators walking out of the session in protest. Slogans were raised outside the Assembly against the Speaker’s decision. Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari condemned the action, calling the Speaker and marshal’s behavior toward Dipak Barman and Manoj Oraon an “insult to the Rajbanshi community.”

The ruling party defended the Speaker’s decisions, stating that the BJP was attempting to create disorder inside the House. Meanwhile, BJP leaders maintained that their members were being unfairly silenced, vowing to continue their protest against what they described as the curbing of opposition voices in the Assembly.