TMC's Kalyan Banerjee suspended from Lok Sabha for 'unparliamentary language'

The Lok Sabha on Wednesday suspended the TMC's Kalyan Banerjee for the remainder of the Monsoon session for using "unsavoury" language against women members after he had a heated exchange with NCPI members in the Lower House chamber. The Monsoon session ends on August 13. As soon as the House assembled at 2 pm after the second adjournment of the day, Krishna Prasad Tenneti, who was chairing the proceedings, referred to a complaint filed by members with the speaker against Banerjee and said his remarks had hurt the dignity of the House. He then asked Union minister Arjun Ram Meghwal to read out a resolution seeking the consent of the House to suspend Banerjee. The resolution was passed by a voice vote amid sloganeering by opposition members over the NEET paper leak and other issues.

As the resolution was adopted, Tenneti asked Banerjee to leave the precincts of the House. Amid continuous sloganeering by the opposition, the House was adjourned for the day. Earlier in the day, Banerjee had a heated exchange with some of his former party colleagues and NCPI MPs in the Lok Sabha chamber after the House was adjourned following an uproar by the opposition. The Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI) members involved in the exchange included Mitali Bagh, Shatabdi Roy and Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar. Banerjee has remained loyal to TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee. It was not clear what led to the heated exchange. Some members of opposition parties intervened and tried to calm down both sides.

On being asked what had happened by some of the opposition MPs, Banerjee left the House. Bagh, Dastidar and some other NCPI members subsequently went to meet Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla in his chamber apparently to raise the issue. As many as 20 TMC MPs revolted against the party leadership after the party's defeat in the West Bengal assembly elections and joined the NCPI. They started sitting separately, away from the TMC MPs in the Lok Sabha. The NCPI MPs also expressed their allegiance to the ruling NDA and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.