Bengal Assembly Speaker asks MLAs to behave responsibly

Kolkata, Jul 25 (PTI) A day after senior BJP Leader Suvendu Adhikari was involved in a verbal spat with Trinamool Congress MLA Tapan Chatterjee on the assembly premises, Speaker Biman Bandyopadhyay on Thursday asked legislators to behave responsibly.
    Adhikari had alleged that the TMC legislator abused him verbally and tried to assault him on the premises of the assembly.
    In a letter to the Speaker, the BJP leader said he was feeling "insecure" in the assembly and demanded action against Chatterjee.
    The TMC MLA, however, had claimed he did not threaten or assault Adhikari but merely confronted him over some comments by the BJP leader against him and his daughter during an election meeting at his constituency.
    On the contrary, Chatterjee alleged, Adhikari had threatened him with dire consequences when he wanted his explanation at the assembly lobby for the comments.
    Taking a serious view of the incident, the Speaker said, "What happened in the assembly premises yesterday is unfortunate, unexpected and inappropriate".
    "We need to behave with restraint. We need to conduct ourselves appropriately as stakeholders of the Assembly," he said addressing both treasury and opposition benches.
    Referring to Adhikari's claim that he and other opposition MLAs were feeling insecure in the House, Bandyopadhyay said, "Adequate security arrangements are in place in the House but people's representatives should not act in a provocative manner."
    Adhikari was not present in the House when the Speaker made the observation, but Chatterjee was around.
    The Speaker had said on Wednesday he has initiated an investigation into the allegations of Adhikari.
    Adhikari, the BJP MLA of Nandigram, in his letter also held the Speaker somehow responsible for the incident since he disallowed entry of personal bodyguards of MLAs inside the assembly.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)