Amid protest by BJP, Dhankhar fails to complete speech

KOLKATA: Amid protests by BJP MLAs, West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Friday had to cut short his much-speculated maiden address in the Assembly after the state elections on the opening day of Budget Session, completing it in just four minutes. The BJP MLAs protested because there was no mention of post-poll violence in Bengal in the Governor's speech.

Dhankhar came to the Assembly at 1.55 pm and entered the hall after offering floral tribute at the statue of B.R. Ambedkar. But as he started to read the speech prepared by the state government, the BJP MLAs started protesting, initially from their own seats before rushing to the well of the House with posters and placards in their hands.

Dhankhar, who was occasionally interrupted, was eventually forced to stop his speech after just five minutes of starting it.

Dhankhar then left the hall flanked by Speaker Biman Banerjee and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

The Governor, who recently had a controversial debate with Banerjee over the speech prepared for him for the opening day of the Assembly session, was seen speaking to the Chief Minister for 3-4 minutes.

BJP MLA and Leader of Opposition in the House, Suvendu Adhikari, said that the MLAs from the saffron camp protested during the Governor's speech because it was written by the state government without any mention of the post-poll violence in Bengal. (IANS)

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