Kolkata, 24 July (H.S.) : Trinamool Congress (TMC) MLA Kunal Ghosh on Friday expressed regret in the West Bengal Assembly over his confrontation with Speaker Rathindra Nath Bose during the past two days of proceedings. Earlier in the day, Tourism Minister Shankar Ghosh moved a privilege motion against the legislator, which was accepted by the Speaker.

During the Assembly proceedings, the Speaker read out the notice submitted by Shankar Ghosh. The motion alleged that Kunal Ghosh had attempted to undermine the dignity of the Chair and disrespect the Speaker during debates held on Wednesday and Thursday, thereby violating the decorum of the House.

The Speaker then allowed Kunal Ghosh to present his defence. Ghosh stated that he had no intention of insulting the Speaker. He said that since being elected from the Beliaghata Assembly constituency, he had repeatedly tried to raise issues concerning his constituency and public interest in the House, but his name was repeatedly omitted from the list of speakers.

Responding to his remarks, Tourism Minister Shankar Ghosh clarified that, under established parliamentary practice, only those legislators whose names are recommended by the Chief Whip of the TMC Legislature Party are permitted to participate in debates. He said Kunal Ghosh's name was currently not being forwarded by his own party, and therefore he was not being given an opportunity to speak. The minister described the issue as an internal matter of the TMC and said it should be resolved within the party rather than by disrupting Assembly proceedings.

In his reply, Kunal Ghosh once again reiterated that he had never intended to disrespect the Speaker and expressed regret if any of his remarks had unintentionally hurt the Chair.

Later, while speaking to the media outside the Assembly, Kunal Ghosh alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was preventing him from speaking in the House. He claimed that if he were allowed to participate in debates, he would expose what he described as the BJP government's functioning, alleged police high-handedness and various policy failures. He asserted that the people of his constituency had elected him to raise their concerns and that he would continue to do so despite any attempts to silence him.

Hindusthan Samachar / Satya Prakash Singh