After Speaker Biman Banerjee rejected an adjournment petition from the Opposition, BJP lawmakers left the Assembly on Tuesday to protest the “steep rise” in dengue cases in the state.
Suvendu Adhikari, the leader of the opposition, and other BJP MLAs then moved their protest outside the House in an effort to bring attention to the issue with two enormous fake mosquitoes.
Later, a few lawmakers were saw giving out mosquito nets to bus passengers.
The BJP attempted to embarrass the Mamata Banerjee administration on the subject of vector control and was ready for it in the House, a day after raucous demonstrations were held in the Assembly over fisheries minister Akhil Giri’s crude remarks about President Droupadi Murmu.
An adjournment motion was introduced by BJP MLA Shankar Ghosh of Siliguri to debate the current dengue situation in the state, particularly in north Bengal. Speaker Banerjee let Ghosh to read the motion but barred debate of it.
“We were permitted to read the motion for adjournment, but discussion was not permitted. As the leader of the opposition, I urged the Speaker to compel any minister to brief us on the current dengue situation and the measures the government is doing to slow the sharp increase in cases. After staging the walkout, Adhikari told reporters that the health minister wasn’t present in the House and that no one was available to share data with us.
Adhikari also criticised Mamata Banerjee, the chief minister of West Bengal, for her involvement in containing the vector-borne disease.