AMN
Heated exchange erupted during a joint parliamentary committee meeting on the Waqf bill after TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee smashed a glass water bottle following a verbal spat with BJP leader.
According to sources, Mr Banerjee also threw pieces of the bottle at the BJP’s Jagdambika Pal. who is the Chairperson of the committee. Hitting out at the Trinamool leader later over abuse of privileges, Mr Pal declared, “Does it mean someone will appear with a revolver tomorrow?”
Mr Banerjee injured his right hand and had to be given first aid; he was escorted from the Parliament’s medical centre – where he was treated for a 1.5-centimetre laceration on his right thumb and a cut on his little finger – by AAP MP Sanjay Singh and AIMIM MP and chief Asaduddin Owaisi.
After the incident, Banerjee was suspended for one day from the parliamentary committee on Waqf. Nine members of the committe voting in favour of suspension and seven against it.. The committee was chaired by Pal. He was listening to the views of a group of retired judges and lawyersJPC On Waqf Bill:Notably, the JPC on Waqf Bill has stepped up its task to get as many as stakeholders to share their views and collate it ahead of the Winter Session of the Parliament.
Mr Banerjee – who refused to speak to reporters after the incident, although he professed regret for his actions, and reportedly said, privately, that he did not mean to throw the bottle at Mr Pal – has been suspended from the next meeting; a resolution to that effect was tabled by the BJP’s Nishikant Dubey.