Suvendu Adhikari, BJP MLAs walk out of WB Assembly over raising Nandigram election row

In a dramatic state of affairs, West Bengal Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and Leader of Opposition (LoP), Suvendu Adhikari walked out of the Assembly session following an argument with the treasury bench on July 6. Adhikari was further joined by other BJP MLAs after the Speaker called the matter of CM losing the Nandigram seat as 'subjudice'. On Monday, the Assembly session was adjourned after obituary references were made to eminent personalities who died recently, reported PTI. 

Before leaving, Suvendu Adhikari asked the Speaker why should he stay if he cannot raise the matter. 

West Bengal Assembly Session

This is the first Assembly Session being conducted after Mamata Banerjee-led TMC won the elections and retained power in the state. The session began on June 2 when the opening session of the newly constituted West Bengal Assembly got stormy after Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar was forced to cut short his inaugural speech amid ruckus by opposition BJP MLAs who took offence after finding “no mention” of post-poll violence in the address. Reportedly, Dhankhar tabled the speech after reading a few lines from an 18-page address approved by the state Cabinet. 

Nandigram row

On May 2 when assembly election results were declared, the result announcement had taken a shocking turn late in the evening after BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari bagged the majority from Mamata Banerjee's home-turf. The Nandigram poll battle saw the most high-voltage campaign as Mamata played her 'Bengal's daughter' card, while Suvendu has accused TMC of only 'promoting the nephew'. Mamata, who had blamed her injury on BJP, and had vowed to conduct her campaign on a wheelchair with the BJP calling it 'sympathy politics'. Mamata has also termed Adhikaris as 'Mir Jafars' while Suvendu has fearmongered that 'Bengal will become mini-Pakistan' if Mamata is re-elected. 

While Nandigram is a Trinamool bastion, it is the Adhikari family - Sisir, Suvendu, Dibyendu and Soumendu which has massive sway in the district - leading to Suvendu's victory over Mamata by a margin of 1737 votes. Though Mamata accepted her defeat, she said that she will challenge the electoral verdict in court. The nail-biting clincher saw Suvendu Adhikari take the lead by 4000 seats over Mamata Banerjee, but later the margin reduced to mere 6 votes before Mamata took the lead.

Currently, the matter is being heard in the Calcutta High Court.