A day after unruly scenes witnessed at a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) meeting on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024, the panel's Chairman, Jagdambika Pal said here on Wednesday that Trinamool Congress MP Kalyan Banerjee's actions were undemocratic and anarchist .
The Trinamool Congress MP has been suspended for one day for his misbehaviour.
Lok Sabha Speaker has suspended the Trinamool MP for one day in the next session, he told IANS on a proposal moved by MP Nishikant Dubey.
On Tuesday, the meeting got briefly adjourned as the Mamata Banerjee went hammer and tongs in a fit of rage and smashed a bottle and threw its broken pieces towards the JPC Chairman.
Jagdambika Pal condemned Mamata's action, saying it is undemocratic and anarchist.
The principles of democracy state that a person should express his dissent through a vote, and not by resorting to violence, he said.
This Trinamool MP's action is not befitting a democratic system," the JPC Chairman said.
"I don't know the motive behind his violence. He is getting the opportunity to regularly participate in debates in the JPC. I fail to understand what kind of vote-bank politics he is doing or whom he is trying to send a message to, by resorting to violence," he said.
He said it was unfortunate that the proceedings of the JPC, constituted on the government's initiative for detailed discussions on the Bill with all stakeholders, have been politicised by some members.
After the incident on Tuesday, a proposal was put forward to suspend Banerjee from attending the JPC meetings for one day (equivalent to two sessions).
Lok Sabha The proposed suspension of Kalyan Banerjee for a day and two sittings by the Joint Parliamentary Committee on Waqf due to his wrong word choice against Chairman Jagdambika Pal and hurling pieces of a bottle at him, said the proposal.
The suspension was carried by a majority vote, though some ruling party MPs, including BJP's Abhijit Gangopadhyay, were not satisfied with the what they said was lenient punishment.
Ruckus in the JPC meeting began when representatives from two Cuttack-based organisations, Justice in Reality and Panchasakha Bani Prachar Mandali, were presenting their views on the Bill.
Banerjee interrupted them several times leading to confrontation with BJP MP Gangopadhyay.
Matters only deteriorated from there when Banerjee wanted to intervene again without permission, and this led to a war of words between the two JPC members.
Banerjee, according to some reports, broke a water bottle in this tussle, injured himself, and then flung the broken pieces at Pal.
The hearing had to be adjourned and both Opposition and ruling party members accused each other of using abusive language later.
Read also| JMM Engages in Dynastic Politics by Fielding Hemant Soren, His Wife, and Brother, Himanta
Read also| Sanjay Raut Dismisses Rumors of Meeting Amit Shah, Affirms SS-UBT Will Not Join BJP
