Kolkata/New Delhi
West Bengal legislative assembly Speaker Biman Banerjee on Friday refused to accept the resignation of Trinamool Congress lawmaker Suvendu Adhikari as it did not conform to the provisions of the Constitution and the rules of the House. Banerjee further said Adhikari has been asked to appear before him in person in his chamber on December 21 to make his submission with regard to the matter.
"After an examination I found that there was no date mentioned in the letter... I've asked him to appear before me at 2 pm on December 21," Banerjee said. The Speaker was also not present in the House at that time when Adhikari tendered his resignation on Wednesday. "It is only possible for me to accept his resignation when he appears before me in person. If he can prove his case, I will certainly accept his resignation," the Speaker told media on Friday.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Home Affairs provided 'Z' category security cover to former West Bengal Minister Suvendu Adhikari, who resigned from the Trinamool on Thursday.
An MHA official said Adhikari has been provided with the heightened security while he is based in West Bengal. The CRPF will man him with bulletproof vehicles. However, when he is out of Bengal, he will be provided Y-plus cover by the CRPF.
Our Correspondent adds: Following the dissent and stepping down of several leaders, the TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee on Friday had called for an emergency meeting at her residence in presence of all heavy weight leaders and poll strategist Prashant Kishor. Insiders present in the closed-door meet said, it has been decided all the leaders will visit the grassroots frequently. Meanwhile, TMC MLA of Pandabeshwar, Jitendra Tiwari told FPJ he will continue with TMC and also apologise to the supremo.
“There was some misunderstanding which has been cleared. Mamata didi was hurt by me. I will continue with the Trinamool Congress,” said Tiwari who went to meet Aroop Biswas, Minister for North Bengal Development in the Government of West Bengal.
“All the party leaders have been asked to visit the grassroot often. The TMC supremo has instructed all the leaders to visit those districts where they are more popular in comparison to the rest,” said the sources.
The sources also confirmed the ruling party’s ‘Bongo Dhoni Jatra’, a public outreach programme that was supposed to be over by December 21 has been increased till January.
The sources mentioned that along with Prashant Kishore leaders like Mayor Firhad Hakim, Subrata Buxi and her nephew Abhishek Banerjee were present at the meeting.
Kolkata: The SC on Friday granted interim protection to five BJP leaders, including Mukul Roy, Kailash Vijayvargiya, Pawan Singh, Saurav Singh and Arjun Singh in criminal cases lodged against them in West Bengal and directed the state police not to take any coercive action until further orders. The 3-judge bench headed by Justice SK Kaul issued notice on petitions filed by the senior BJP leaders who claimed that false cases were being slapped intentionally on them to prevent them from entering the state ahead of assembly elections early next year.
Welcoming the verdict, Kailash Vijayvargiya said that the ruling Trinamool with the help of police is purposely slapping false cases on the BJP leaders just to malign the saffron camp. “The TMC govt is purposely trying to tarnish the image of the saffron camp as they are afraid of the growing BJP popularity. They are even killing BJP workers and the actual culprits are not being arrested,” said the BJP Bengal observer. Notably, former IPS officer Bharati Ghosh, once a close aide to CM Mamata Banerjee was slapped with cases after Ghosh defected to BJP. Ghosh who was the candidate of Midnapore in the last LS poll couldn’t campaign in her constituency.
Soumitra Khan, BJP MP of Bishnupur, soon after defecting to the saffron camp was slapped with police cases for he also couldn’t campaign during the Lok Sabha election and his wife Sujata Mondol campaigned for him.
Shah in Kolkata
Amid rebellion in TMC, Union Home Minister Amit Shah will arrive in Kolkata on Friday night on a two-day visit to take stock of the BJP's affairs in the state as the assembly elections draw near. Speculations are rife that heavyweight Suvendu Adhikari may join the BJP during Shah’s visit along with a slew of disgruntled TMC leaders, including some MLAs such as Silbhadra Dutta.
