BJP calls TMC’s Kalyan Banerjee “not fit for the Parliament”

Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], January 24 (ANI): Following the suspension of Kaylan Banerjee, Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP and member of the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader, Agnimitra Paul criticised TMC’s disruption tactics. Paul claimed that this was not the first time TMC leaders had attempted to disrupt proceedings and create confusion.

“This is not the first time that they (TMC leaders) are trying to disrupt the proceedings of the meeting to create confusion…What kind of a message does the party want to send?… The stand of TMC is never fixed…They want to send a message to a particular community…” said BJP leader Paul.

Meanwhile, BJP MLA Shankar Ghosh described Kalyan Banerjee as “not fit for parliament.” He added, “His behaviour in social life as well as inside the parliament is not good for democracy. He always tries to disrupt the proceedings of the Waqf Board JPC as he has to send a message to the minority community…”

Amid a huge ruckus, all the opposition MPs that are part of the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill have been suspended from Friday’s sitting.

The suspended MPs include Mohammad Jawaid, Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Kalyan Banerjee, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) leader A Raja, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi and Nasir Hussain, Samajwadi Party (SP) leaders Mohibbullah Nadvi, M. Abdullah, and Shiv Sena (UBT) leaders Arvind Sawant, Nadimul Haque, and Congress’ Imran Masood.

“What is going on is an undeclared emergency,” Banerjee asserted while referring to the happenings inside the JPC meeting. He said that the subject and dates for the meeting were changed after they landed in Delhi for the meet. The TMC MP accused the government of “hurrying” owing to the upcoming Assembly polls in the national capital, which are scheduled to be held on February 5.

“We had a tour till January 21. They had given the notice at night after the tour that the meeting would happen on January 24 and 25. Right then, A Raja and others requested the chairman postpone the meeting to January 30 and 31. He refused to hear us. All of a sudden, we got the notice that the amendment had to be given by January 22 at 4:00 PM,” he said.

“It was decided that a clause-by-clause discussion would happen. When we landed here last night, they changed the subject, scheduling the meeting for January 27. We requested multiple times, saying that it was not possible to hold the meeting on the 27th. What is going on is an undeclared emergency. It is politically motivated. They are hurrying because of the assembly elections in Delhi. They don’t respect the opposition,” he added.