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Mamata goes berserk New Delhi, August 4 Mamata Banerjee in her characteristic display of hysterics — shedding tears, flinging papers at the Lok Sabha Speaker’s chair, some of the papers fell right on Atwal and others on his table — quit as a member of the House amid high drama. However, Speaker Somnath Chatterjee “rejected” the resignation offer as it had “not been submitted in the proper format.” “It is a very sad day. It is unfortunate that even the Chair has no protection in the House,’’ the Lok Sabha Speaker observed as the members of the Left parties joined by the RJD members insisted that Chatterjee should ask Ms Banerjee to tender an apology. The Speaker said: “It is for the member to tender an apology — that would add to the member’s stature if he/she does that. And it was up to the House to take a collective decision on the issue.” The house was stunned and forced to adjourn when Ms Banerjee, in a fit of rage at not being allowed to speak about illegal Bangladeshi immigrants, rushed to the Speaker’s Chair and threw the papers — purportedly the list of legal and illegal voters in West Bengal. Deputy Speaker Charanjit Singh Atwal, who was presiding at the time, said her notice to discuss the issue had been denied by Speaker Somnath Chatterjee. She kept shouting and waving the papers in her hand, holding up the house for half an hour. “The Speaker (Chatterjee) should explain why he disallowed the discussion. He never allowed me to speak,” raged Ms Banerjee, even as the CPM and Congress MPs protested that she was casting aspersions on the chair. When the Lok Sabha reassembled at 2 p.m., it erupted in noisy exchanges, as CPM MPs demanded an apology from the Trinamool MP for disrespecting the chair. Ms Banerjee responded by storming out of the House. She apparently wrote out her resignation from the Lok Sabha after that. Leader of Opposition L.K. Advani, who was present in the House, said the Speaker should invite Ms Banerjee to discuss the issue. “I am not aware of what happened but I think the Speaker can call Mamata Banerjee and have a discussion in which we can also join,” Advani said, but the Left MPs were up shouting in protest. Ms Banerjee told reporters outside the House that she had quit because she had been denied her ‘’fundamental right’’ to raise the important issue of illegal immigration of Bangladeshi nationals into West Bengal. ‘’There is no question of reconsidering my decision to quit which I took after due consideration,’’ she said and added that she had no regrets for her behaviour in the House. The Trinamool leader had cast aspersions on the Speaker for not allowing her to raise the issue. Somnath Chatterjee observed that “she had made observation that he had taken the decision to disallow her to raise the issue based on my political affiliations. I refute this claim and the House condemns the incident that has happened in the Lok Sabha.” Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said all party leaders, including that of the UPA, the NDA and their supporting parties, held a meeting and condemned the incident. They said it was an insult to parliamentary democracy. ‘’No member has the right to insult the Chair.... Disrespect of the Chair is an insult to the House and democracy,’’ he said. ‘’If we as members don’t respect the Chair, then who will,’’ he asked. He said all the political parties should tell their members not to ‘’cross the limits’’.  |
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