Special West Bengal Assembly session from Sep 1, motion against SIR and harassment of Bengalis on the cards

Kolkata, Aug 28 A special session of the West Bengal Assembly will be held from September 1, with the Mamata Banerjee government likely to bring a resolution against the Election Commission's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) and a censure motion on alleged attacks on Bengali migrant workers in BJP-ruled states.

Sources in the state government said on Thursday that the special session will be held on September 1, 2 and 4, as September 3 is a state holiday on account of Karam Puja.

According to Trinamool Congress sources, the state government will table a resolution condemning the harassment of Bengalis outside the state. Apart from this issue, the government is likely to bring a resolution against the Election Commission’s SIR of electoral rolls in Bihar and the possibility of conducting the same exercise in West Bengal as well.

"The Trinamool Congress has been vocal about the harassment of Bengali migrant workers in the country, and especially in BJP-ruled states. Our party supremo, Mamata Banerjee, has, on a number of occasions, raised the issue and criticised the Centre for targeting Bengalis. She even launched the 'Shramshree' scheme for their welfare. Now the party feels that the protest must be recorded in the state Assembly, as well as we cannot allow anyone to call us Bangladeshi or outsiders," a senior Trinamool leader said.

At the same time, the party leader said that they will register their protest from the floor of the house against the SIR in the special session.

Meanwhile, the state government is likely to discuss the 'Aparajita Bill' and condemn the Centre for sending it back to the state.

On September 3, 2024, the Assembly unanimously passed The Aparajita Women and Child (West Bengal Criminal Laws Amendment) Bill, 2024, introducing stringent punishment in cases involving sexual assault. The Bill was sent to President Droupadi Murmu by West Bengal Governor C.V. Ananda Bose on September 6, 2024.

The legislation, which was passed 25 days after the rape and murder of a doctor at R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata, provides for the death penalty in five categories of offences — rape, rape by a police officer or public servant, rape causing death or resulting in a persistent vegetative state, gang rape, and repeat offences.

Raising concerns over the death penalty provisions in the Bill, Governor Ananda Bose last month returned the legislation to the state government for further consideration.

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