Resolution for revival of Legislative Council in WB moved

A resolution for reviving the Legislative Council in West Bengal after 42 years was moved in the state Assembly today by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

Speaking on the resolution, she said though her government had the majority to pass the resolution, she requested the Speaker to make constitutional provisions so that there could be threadbare discussion on it.

Defending the move for revival of the Upper House, which was abolished in 1969, Banerjee said the Council was not meant only for bigwigs, but also for people about whom nobody thought of like a rickshaw puller or a landless labourer who would also get a chance to speak about their problems.

The Council would help in bringing people from a cross section of the society, she said.

Speaker Biman Bandopadhyay, while accepting Banerjee's suggestion, announced setting up of a 15-member special committee which would send its recommendations to the House within six weeks.

Leader of the Opposition Suryakanta Mishra said that setting up a Council would put an additional burden on the exchequer at a time when the state was facing a fund crunch.

He said a bicameral system was necessary for the country, but expressed the doubt if it was needed in a state.

Mishra suggested that instead of having a Council, advisory councils and committees could be formed.

Government Chief Whip Sobhandeb Chatterjee, however, countered Mishra's argument and pointed out that there were seven states where the upper house existed.