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Kolkata, Nov 13 (IANS) Former West Bengal education minister and former Trinamool Congress general secretary Partha Chatterjee will not be given any special treatment, which he was used to, if he attends the upcoming winter session of the Assembly later this month.
First of all, the new seat allotted to him on the Floor of the House will neither be on the Treasury Bench nor on the Opposition Bench.
State Assembly insiders said since the Trinamool Congress had already suspended him from the party following his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the school-jobs case in July 2022, he will now be treated as an independent MLA.
Therefore, he will be allotted a place between the treasury bench and the opposition bench.
Also, he will not be given a separate room like the one allotted to him in the assembly complex as the education minister of the state.
Speaker of the House Biman Bandopadhyay confirmed, “He is no longer a minister. Therefore, he will not be allotted a separate room within the Assembly complex. He will attend the session like any other MLA and will get all the facilities. His new seat will be decided before the winter session.”
He also assured that if Chatterjee wishes to participate in the debate in the House during the session, he will be allotted time to present his views as per the rules.
“Chatterjee was removed from the state Cabinet. But he was not expelled from the Assembly. Therefore, he has the right to participate in any session of the Assembly. He is an experienced MLA. If he wishes to speak, he will be allotted time to present his views as per Assembly rules,” the Speaker said.
Chatterjee had already claimed that he would attend the winter session of the Assembly and if possible, would also participate in debates in the House.
–IANS
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