An irritated Mamata Banerjee claimed the saffron party was keen on disrupting peace in Bengal.
The West Bengal assembly on Wednesday witnessed noisy scenes as Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was repeatedly interrupted by BJP lawmakers shouting "Modi Modi" while she was replying to Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar's address to the House.
The Chief Minister retorted with the slogan "Jai Bangla" and advised the BJP members to chant "Jai Sia Ram" instead of "Jai Sree Ram".
The moment Banerjee started delivering her speech, the saffron party MLAs shouted slogans such as "Modi, Modi", "Bharat Mata Ki Jai" and "Jai Sree Ram" and they continued with the sloganeering for the entire 40 minutes of the Trinamool Congress supremo's address.
An irritated Ms Banerjee claimed that the saffron party was keen on disrupting peace in the state while the Trinamool has been fighting for peace.
Referring to the ruckus created at the assembly by the BJP legislators during the address of the governor on Monday, Ms Banerjee said, "The BJP members tried to disrupt the proceedings but their plot did not succeed, thanks to the governor."
High drama was witnessed on the first day of West Bengal assembly's budget session on Monday when Mr Dhankhar was forced to cut short his inaugural speech as BJP MLAs staged a noisy protest in the House over alleged violence in recently concluded civic elections in the state, while Trinamool's woman MLAs pleaded with him to deliver his speech.
Ms Banerjee said, "They (BJP MLAs) are resorting to hooliganism in the Assembly even after losing the elections (assembly and recently held municipal polls). They are shameless." Trinamool won 105 seats out of the 109 in the recent civic polls, she said.
Referring to the suspension of her party's Rajya Sabha MPs Dola Sen and Santa Chhetri, she said, "They suspended our MPs from the Rajya Sabha. Even a single vote matters there...Why will there be a difference in Bengal (assembly)?" Ms Banerjee was apparently referring to the suspension of two BJP MLAs from the state assembly this morning.
"To save the country, the BJP must leave," she added.
In an apparent reference to BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh, she said that bodies of Covid-19 patients were thrown in the Ganges and farmers were mowed down by moving vehicles.
She asked the BJP not to teach her how to protest.
Ms Banerjee alleged that the Centre has not helped the state despite the massive destruction caused by Cyclone Amphan, Yaas as well as the Covid pandemic.