Uproar in Bengal Assembly after TMC govt tables resolution against farm laws, BJP MLAs stage walkout – Politics News , Firstpost

The West Bengal Legislative Assembly on Thursday witnessed unruly scenes on Thursday with the TMC government tabling a resolution demanding repeal of the contentious farm laws and the BJP MLAs responding by walking out while chanting ‘Jai Shri Ram’.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee demanded the Centre either withdraw the new laws or step down.

Speaking after the resolution was moved by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Partha Chatterjee amid vociferous protests by BJP lawmakers, Mamata demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi must convene an all-party meeting to discuss the process of withdrawal of these laws.

As soon as the resolution was tabled, BJP MLAs rushed to the Well of the House to protest and later walked out of the Assembly chanting ‘Jai Shri Ram’.

BJP MLAs led by their legislative party leader Manoj Tigga, rushing to the Well of the House, accused the TMC government of launching a “misinformation campaign” against the laws.

“We oppose the anti-farmer laws. We demand their immediate withdrawal. Either the Centre should withdraw
the laws or step down,” the chief minister had said.

Mamata said the BJP pushed the farm laws in the Parliament using “brute force” and urged the Centre to repeal the legislations.

“BJP always maligns every agitation as terrorist activity. The laws are totally anti-farmer. They pushed it (in Parliament) using brute force. We will not accept farmers being branded as traitors,” she said amid protest by BJP MLAs.

She said that the Union government, which has in the past, waived corporate loans, should also extend the same benefit to farmers.

She also claimed the Delhi Police “mishandled” the tractor parade by farmers which resulted in the situation going out of hand on the Republic Day.

“Delhi Police is to be blamed for that. What was the Delhi Police doing? It was a complete intelligence failure. We will not tolerate farmers being branded as traitors. They are the assets of this nation,” she said.

Mamata appealed to the Congress and the Left Front to keep aside ideological differences and come together in support of the farmers.

The two-day session of the Bengal Assembly began on Thursday.

So far, five non-BJP-ruled states — Punjab, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Kerala and Delhi have passed similar resolutions in their respective Assemblies against the contentious legislations.

With inputs from PTI