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Nishikant Dubey, Aparajita Sarangi, and former Calcutta High Court judge Abhijit Ganguly have shot off a letter to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, demanding strict action against Banerjee
Kalyan Banerjee injures himself. (PTI screenshot)
The BJP’s Members of Parliament are up in arms against Trinamool Congress MP Kalyan Banerjee who smashed a glass water bottle after an argument with former Calcutta High Court judge and BJP MP Abhijit Ganguly and also tried to throw it towards the chairman’s desk during a JPC meeting for the Waqf Amendment Bill, 2024, on Tuesday.
Three members from the ruling party — Nishikant Dubey, Aparajita Sarangi, and Ganguly — have shot off a letter to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, demanding strict action against Banerjee.
Terming his behaviour ‘goondaism’, Dubey in his letter wrote: “Since the entire proceedings of the JPC on Waqf Bill are video-graphed as it is in the case of sittings of all other Parliamentary Committees, the same may be retained as an evidence and examined by your good self to appreciate the documented culpability of Shri Kalyan Banerjee, Member of Parliament. An FIR may be lodged against Shri Kalyan Banerjee, Member of Parliament for the unprecedented goondaism, unpardonable violence and life threatening attack on the Honourable Chairperson, Shri Jagdambika Pal followed by his immediate police custody, interrogation and investigation by the competent Law Enforcement Agencies.
“In terms of Rule 316B(a) of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha, the unethical conduct of Shri Kalyan Banerjee, Member of Parliament may be referred to the Committee on Ethics for examination, investigation and report for considering rescinding his membership. Pending further action against Shri Kalyan Banerjee, Member of Parliament, he may be suspended from the proceedings of the House and its Committees. He should also be barred from entering the Parliament Estate till the conclusion of the inquiry against him.”
On Tuesday, Dubey had moved a motion to suspend Banerjee for a day, which the ruling side was able to win with a vote.
Dubey was also responsible for the expulsion of another Trinamool Congress MP, Mahua Moitra, in the last Lok Sabha after he had filed a complaint against her for allegedly sharing her Lok Sabha log-in credentials with businessman Darshan Hiranandani. The incident had led to furore in the House and after an ethics panel submitted its report to the Lok Sabha Speaker about her conduct, the TMC MP was expelled just a few months before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
If the Lok Sabha Speaker gives his approval for referring the matter to the ethics committee, which is yet to be constituted after the new Lok Sabha was formed, Banerjee could become the second MP from the TMC to be referred to the ethics panel.
All the meetings of the Waqf committee so far have seen fireworks between members of the Opposition and the ruling side. However, there were unprecedented scenes on Tuesday when BJP’s Ganguly and TMC’s Banerjee got into a heated argument, largely in Bengali.
Sources said that during the argument, in anger, the BJP leader called Banerjee a “resident of a red-light area”, which infuriated the TMC MP who retorted with abuses, then picked up a glass bottle from his table, broke it, and allegedly tried to throw it at the Chair who he felt was not reacting effectively to this altercation.
Immediately after this, Banerjee had to be taken for medical attention and received five stitches. The Lok Sabha Speaker’s office was immediately informed of the development, and when the meeting resumed after a break, Dubey moved the motion to demand Banerjee’s suspension from the proceedings for a full day.
Upon the insistence of opposition MPs, the ruling side agreed to keep the suspension demand from the committee for just a day. Many opposition lawmakers argued that the bottle Banerjee tried to throw did not hit anyone.
However, the seriousness of the issue has been conveyed to the Lok Sabha Speaker, with JPC chairman Jagdambika Pal insisting that a strong note be taken of this case.
Ganguly and Banerjee have had several heated exchanges in the past as well.
In a recent meeting of the committee focused on land in Mumbai, a representative disposing before the panel in support of the Bill was heckled by Banerjee. Following this, an argument took place between him and Shiv Sena MP Naresh Mhaske. The MP from the Eknath Shinde camp stood up and supported the representative who, despite being a Muslim, backed the Bill. According to reports, an FIR was filed against Banerjee and the Maharashtra government decided to provide additional security to the land.
According to sources, some MPs have said Banerjee has been “unnecessarily aggressive” on multiple occasions during meetings, and, along with a couple of other lawmakers, has heckled new Members of Parliament like Medha Kulkarni from the BJP.
