Constitution Day programme: Cong, Left MLAs stage walkout

The Congress and Left parties staged a walkout from the Assembly on Wednesday during a special session to celebrate the Constitution Day alleging flouting of norms, which was derided by the ruling Trinamool Congress as a display of "double standards".

Members of the two opposition parties walked out of the House in the concluding hour of the two-day special session that began on Tuesday, after Leader of Opposition Abdul Mannan of the Congress protested that their members were not allotted enough time to speak in the deliberations.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Partha Chatterjee said the programme was organised to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the adoption of the Constitution. Speeches by several members and guests were to be cherished, but some opposition MLAs indulged in mud-slinging during their addresses on some issues.

Chatterjee took on the opposition over some Left members raising questions on why November 26 was being celebrated by the TMC government when it was perceived to be a BJP propaganda campaign.

He said if these opposition leaders really felt that November 26 was not the right date for the celebration, why did they go to the Raj Bhavan on Tuesday to participate in the function held by the governor to mark the day.

The minister asked whether this did not amount to double standards by these leaders.

Earlier, CPI(M) MLA Sujan Chakraborty claimed that the November 26 programme is a political event of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and wondered why the TMC was celebrating it in the state.

Mannan later claimed outside the House that the occasion was used by the Trinamool Congress members to praise Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and to criticise Governor Jagdeep Dhankar.