Kolkata, June 16 (IANS) West Bengal’s Leader of Opposition and expelled Trinamool Congress leader Ritabrata Banerjee on Tuesday remarked that the Assembly has become a “House of Monologues” and urged meaningful dialogues, which will benefit democracy.

Moreover, he alleged that for the past 15 years, the Bengal Assembly had among the least number of sittings in comparison to other legislative assemblies.

Speaking to IANS, Ritabrata Banerjee claimed that currently his faction has the support of 65 Trinamool Congress MLAs.

Targeting the Mamata Banerjee-led unit, he said: “See, as far as my knowledge goes, for the last 15 years, the state Assembly has not functioned in the manner it ideally should. 30 minutes, 40 minutes, or one hour must not be the duration of a discussion.”

“Therefore, today, in the Business Advisory Committee, it was decided that there will be a six-hour discussion on the Governor’s Address and a ten-hour discussion on the Budget,” he added.

He further said: “It is shameful that for the last 15 years the number of working days of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly has not only been below the national average; it is the lowest in the country.”

“So, we have said today that the honourable Speaker needs to work out some mechanism, so that we are not the last boy or girl. We need to go up. The House needs to function in a democratic manner, and in a democracy, in a House like this, dialogues have to be given importance,” he said.

Underlining that a democracy thrives on dialogues, he remarked: “Unfortunately, in many cases this House has become a House of Monologues. A democracy is only successful when dialogue decisively defeats monologue. So, we are confident, the Opposition is set, the House belongs to the Opposition.”

“There will be meaningful dialogues that will benefit the democracy,” he asserted.

Meanwhile, Ritabrata Banerjee has reiterated that this faction is the “real Trinamool” and will not “merge” with any other party.

—IANS

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