AMN / WEB DESK
The West Bengal assembly on Monday witnessed unruly scene as TMC and BJP MLAs came to blows after heated arguments over the recent Birbhum killings, which led to the suspension of five legislators of the saffron party, including Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari.
The House assembled at 11 am on the last day of the budget session. Soon the BJP MLAs trooped to the well, demanding a statement from Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee over the “worsening” law and order situation in the wake of Birbhum violence where eight people were burnt to death last week.
The BJP lawmakers continued with sloganeering inside the House, leading to a war of words with MLAs of the treasury bench and an eventual fisticuffs.
In the ugly scuffle, Trinamool Congress (TMC) MLA Asit Majumdar and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief whip Manoj Tigga were injured. Both of them were taken to a hospital for treatment.
The bedlam created at the Bengal Assembly was not the first such instance in a House of elected representatives in the
similar incident were seen in several assemblies in different state
Tamil Nadu (1989)
One of the infamous instances happened in the Tamil Nadu Assembly in 1989 when the then Leader of Opposition, late J Jayalalithaa was allegedly attacked and humiliated by members of the ruling party — Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) — during a debate. Jayalalithaa had left the House with disheveled hair and vowed to return to the Assembly as Chief Minister, which she did after two years.
Maharashtra (2009)
Four MLAs of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) pushed and slapped Samajwadi Party member Abu Azmi for taking his oath as a legislator in Hindi. The MLAs were later suspended.
Kerala (2015)
It happened on March 13 when the then opposition Left Democratic Front (LDF) members tried to stop Finance Minister KM Mani from presenting the state budget as he was facing charges in the bar bribery scam. In the melee, the speaker’s chair was flung from the podium while electronic equipment like computers, keyboards and mikes on the desk of the presiding officer were also allegedly damaged.
Tamil Nadu (2017)
The state Assembly once again witnessed fracas in 2017 during the trust vote of the K Palaniswami-led All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) government. A melee broke out inside the House and some opposition members even climbed atop the Speaker’s podium and sat on the chair, while the opposition DMK members were evicted physically.
Uttar Pradesh (2017)
The Uttar Pradesh Assembly went through a noisy scene when the then Governor Ram Naik was pelted with paper balls by the opposition during an address. The House also witnessed loud sloganeering and trooping into the well by opposition members. A Samajwadi Party (SP) member also keep blowing whistle throughout the 35-minute address to drown out the Governor’s voice.
Jammu and Kashmir (2019)
The House witnessed fracas in 2019 as the Opposition members rushed toward the chair during a discussion on the implementation of Goods and Services Tax (GST).
Parliament (2021)
Rajya Sabha saw chaos in the monsoon session of 2021 as some members of Parliaments tore papers, jostled with the marshals and attempted to go near the presiding officer’s chair. Some marshals were allegedly attacked in the scuffle. Later, twelve opposition MPs were suspended in connection with the incident.