In an unprecedented incident, Leader of the Opposition Surjya Kanta Mishra on Monday addressed a news conference standing outside the gate of the West Bengal Assembly.
It was his way of protesting the ban imposed by Speaker Biman Banerjee on any news conference inside the Assembly precinct while the House is not in session. “I am talking to you outside the Assembly because I have been barred from addressing a news conference inside. The Speaker’s decision is an attempt at muzzling the voice of the Opposition,” Dr Mishra said. He has sent a letter to the Speaker requesting him to withdraw his decision.
Reiterating his stand, Dr Mishra said that the House belonged to the Opposition.
He said he was not questioning the power of the Speaker. “The Speaker is the supreme authority of the House, but the decision to ban press conferences reflects on the political will of the government. It is a question of good governance versus bad governance. We demand withdrawal of the order by the Speaker,” he said.
On Friday, he had alleged that the government was resorting to such methods because it was scared. “The government does not want the people to know about its failures on various issues, including farmers’ suicide,” he had said. On Monday, Dr Mishra claimed that the government was feeling jealous because the Opposition was receiving a receptive media. In a bid to win their support, he pointed out that the ban order also affected the rights of the media.
Sources said that the CPI(M) was planning to go to town highlighting the Assembly ban issue to project the government as autocratic, vindictive and anti-democratic.
Referring to the CM’s statement that the CPI(M) leaders were attacking her out of envy and jealousy, the leader of the Opposition said that the performance of her government so far was not such that would evoke such sentiments.