Trinamool to boycott debates in Bengal Assembly

Kolkata, Jun 14 (UNI) The Opposition Trinamool Congress today walked out of the West Bengal Assembly, demanding equal share of time with the Treasury Bench and announced to boycott all debates in the House unless its demand was met.

Kickstarting a confrontation with Speaker Hashim Abdul Halim before the coming budget, the party demanded the Opposition be allotted time on the basis of share of votes, and not the number of seats.

As soon as the House assembled to begin a six-day debate on the Governor's address, Trinamool Congress Legislature Party Leader Partha Chatterjee appealed to the Speaker to allot 50 per cent of the total time to the Opposition.

In an outright rejection, the Speaker said the Trinamool Congress was a party to a decision at the Business Advisory Committee meeting for allocation of 40 per cent time to the Opposition as against 60 per cent to the Treasury Bench.

After an argument with Mr Halim for about two minutes, the Trinamool Congress members staged the walkout.

Later, Mr Chatterjee alleged to the reporters that the Speaker was adamant in denying the Opposition an equal time share. '' We will boycott all kinds of debate as long as the Speaker does not concede to our demand, '' he said denying that they had earlier accepted any proposal for a lower time slot.

However, an unfazed Speaker said in his chamber that the Trinamool Congress had gone back on the agreement it signed at the Business Advisory Committee meeting stipulating that the Treasury Bench would be given 60 per cent of the total time for debates and the Opposition 40 per cent.

'' It is perhaps because of some internal problem over the issue that they are now backtracking, '' he said.

The Speaker said if the Trinamool Congress stuck to its decision, he would revert to the old system in which the Opposition was alloted only 20 per cent time as against 80 per cent to the ruling party members.

He said nowhere in the world Opposition was given time for debate on par with that of the Treasury Bench.

In the 294-strong State Assembly, the strength of the combined opposition is 58, including 29 of the Trinamool Congress, while the ruling Left Front has 235 members.

As a result of the drastic fall in the number of members in the newly constituted Assembly, the Trinamool Congress has been denied the status of the main opposition which requires a minimum strength of 30.

Before 1987 the required number of seats which a party was supposed to have to be recognised as the main opposition was 48. But the benchmark was lowered by the Speaker after the Congress had got even less than that.

However, Mr Chatterjee today said the share of votes of the combined opposition was barely one per cent less than that of the Front and that should be the guiding factor for allocation of time.

The Speaker had earlier announced that depending on the strength, the Opposition would be given less time than that of the Treasury Bench, but they would be alloted equal time in all other matters, including questions and mention.

UNI KDG SJC/PR RK1758