TMC MP smashes bottle after sparring at Waqf Bill meeting

High drama was witnessed at a meeting of the parliamentary committee on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill on Tuesday as Trinamool Congress MP Kalyan Banerjee allegedly smashed a glass water bottle on a table and injured his hand following a heated argument with his BJP counterpart Abhijit Gangopadhyay, a former judge of the Calcutta High Court.

Banerjee was later suspended for one session of the committee’s meeting, implying he won’t be able to participate in next week’s deliberations on the controversial Bill.

Sources said the drama started when Banerjee was trying to break off an argument between a Congress and a BJP MP. Even as he was doing so, Gangopadhyay reportedly used provocative language against the TMC MP.

Banerjee retaliated and reportedly smashed a glass water bottle on the table, which injured his right hand. Amid the arguments between the two MPs, the joint panel chief, Jagdambika Pal, a BJP MP, tried to pacify the Trinamool MP, who, as alleged by some members, tried to intimidate him.

The Trinamool MP, who was treated for a 1.5-cm laceration on his right thumb and a cut on his little finger, was escorted from the Parliament’s medical centre by AAP MP Sanjay Singh and AIMIM MP and chief Asaduddin Owaisi. He was later suspended from one sitting of the panel, which was decided through voting following allegations of breach of privilege against Banerjee. Gangopadhyay did not participate in the voting process.

As the verdict was tied at eight votes each, among those in favour of Banerjee’s suspension and those against it, Pal cast his vote in favour of his suspension.