Left, TMC MLAs clash in Bengal Assembly over chit fund

A ruckus or even a scuffle among the members in a legislative Hosue is not rare now-a-days. The members of West Bengal legislative assembly, however,took it to a shocking low on Tuesday.

Physical fight resulting in hospitalisation of three persons, assault on woman MLA or even pick-pocket --- West Bengal legislative assembly witnessed all.

It started when the opposition's adjournment motion on chit funds in the House was admitted but a discussion was not allowed.

Opposition Leader Suryakanta Mishra alleged that his adjournment motion on chit funds had been severely edited by the Speaker, leading to a round of scuffle. After this, as per the state Parliamentary minister Partha Chatterjee's version, Left MLAs attempted to attack the speaker. Although, the Speaker left the House , the clash continued until the Opposition staged a walk out.

As the House reconvened, Partha Chatterjee protested the behaviour of the Left MLAs resulting in the suspension of three CPI-M MLAs Amjad Hussain, Najimul Haq and Sushanta Besra. This led to another round of a more intensified clash.

According to the Left, TMC members pulled the hair of a Left woman MLA Debolina Hembrom after which she fel down on the floor.

Eye witnesses could not give an account of what happened after that as almost all the members present in the house were engaged in a physical fight.So much so, at least three MLAs (two from Left and one from TMC) were hospitalised, including one CPI-MLA Gouranga Chatterjee, suffering a critical head injury. Not only that, there are even allegation from another CPI-M MLA Ashok Gosh that his mobile was “pick pocketed” during the fight.

At the end of the day predictably the blame game started with Partha Chatterjee and Suryakanta Mishra leading the charge for their respective parties. Left demonstrated a sit-in protest against the suspension of their members. Congress on the other hand sought intervention of Governor to settle the issues. Trinamool Congress demanded a “harsher punishment” for Left MLAs. Only, there was no one to talk about the real issue of Chit fund anymore, although from Left, a section of TMC to RBI everyone have expressed concern over the mushrooming of chit funds in the state.