West Bengal: Congress, Left stage walkout from Assembly after Speaker refuses to discuss farmers' issues

Kolkata: Opposition Congress and Left Front jointly staged a walkout in West Bengal Assembly on Thursday after Speaker Biman Banerjee refused a discussion on farmers allegedly not getting right price for produce of paddy and jute. [caption id=“attachment_4237031” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of West Bengal Assembly. PTI[/caption] MLAs of the Congress and the Left Front staged a walkout after rallying inside the House with jute products alleging that farmers were denied of right price for produce like paddy, jute. “We have been denied of our democratic rights inside the House. We wanted to put forth the sufferings of the farmers who are not getting the right price for their produce,” Leader of Opposition Abdul Mannan later said. Later, Speaker Biman Banerjee said the Oppositions should speak for the cause of the people inside the House rather than boycotting the proceedings. “They have the right to speak because the Assembly is also a place to criticise. But instead they are boycotting the House. I want the Opposition to ask questions. We get only 45 or 47 days which are very important for the MLAs. This is not an healthy practice for democracy,” Banerjee said.