Suvendu Adhikari, Bengal's Leader of the Opposition, got saved from suspension from the Assembly today by the intervention of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who apologized on his behalf after his comments on the Speaker. The Chief Minister, however, did not pull any punches while condemning the behaviour of her aide-turned-political rival.
"What shameful behaviour by the Leader of Opposition. This is what they always do. They use this kind of language everywhere. Against us also. I ask for forgiveness on his behalf. Please forgive him, forgive them," she said at the beginning of her speech at the assembly, which had convened for the responses of the Chief Minister and the Leader of Opposition on the Governor's address to the Legislative Assembly.
Mr Adhikari had made allegations about misuse of funds, and against senior bureaucrats and police officers, which Speaker Biman Banerjee did not allow to go on record. This had enraged Mr Adhikari, who lost his cool and led a walkout of BJP MLAs.
While his exact words could not be heard over the din by BJP MLAs, Mr Banerjee said casting aspersions on the functioning of the Speaker invites privilege motion. "I reserve the right to move the privilege motion against the Leader of Opposition," he added.
The walkout was followed by the Chief Minister's address. Later, when Deputy Chief Whip Tapas Roy initiated the move to suspend Mr Adhikari till February 20, the Speaker cited Ms Banerjee's request to forgive the Leader of Opposition.
Asked about the Chief Minister's apology on his behalf, Mr Adhikari said, "Let good sense dawn on them. Listen to me. If they listen, it will not be bad for Bengal, it will be good".
The Chief Minister, he added, was encouraging her MLAs to disrupt his speech. "They created an impossible situation to stop me from speaking," he added.
"At the beginning of my speech, I said our Governor should have adopted the path chosen by the Tamil Nadu Governor. He had refused to speak what was written out by the state government," he added.
He also had censure for the Speaker, questioning his impartiality. "It is not just about removing things from the record. If the Speaker decides what should be in my speech -- in that case, there is a question over his impartiality," he said. The BJP MLAs, he, however, added, have decided that "we will follow rules and go ahead with our grievances."
Mamata Banerjee described Mr Adhikari's attitude as "destructive". "Can a Leader of Opposition say such things about the ED and CBI and dictate where they are going to conduct raids? Can he say such things about Governor?" she said in her address.
She also ridiculed the BJP for the now withdrawn announcement asking people to hug cows on Valentine's Day. "They want us to hug cows on Valentine's Day. What if a cow mows down someone? Who will be responsible? They should provide insurance to everyone. Then they should ask people to do it," Ms Banerjee said.
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