Lok Sabha suspends TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee; chair says remarks against women MPs hurt 'dignity of the House'

The Lok Sabha on Wednesday suspended Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Kalyan Banerjee for the remainder of the Monsoon Session after he allegedly used "unsavoury" and unparliamentary language against women members during a heated exchange in the House chamber.

Announcing the decision, presiding officer Krishna Prasad Tenneti referred to complaints submitted to the Speaker and said Banerjee's remarks had "hurt the dignity of the House."

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Moving the motion, Union Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal read out the resolution seeking Banerjee's suspension, with Tenneti stating that the TMC MP's remarks against a woman member were unbecoming of a parliamentarian and had undermined the dignity of the House.

The resolution was adopted by a voice vote amid sloganeering by opposition members over the NEET paper leak and other issues. Following its passage, Tenneti directed Banerjee to leave the precincts of the House. The Lok Sabha was later adjourned for the day amid continued protests by opposition members. The Monsoon Session is scheduled to conclude on August 13.

The suspension came hours after Banerjee was involved in a heated altercation with members of the Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI) in the Lok Sabha chamber after the House had been adjourned following opposition protests.

The NCPI members involved in the exchange included Mitali Bagh, Shatabdi Roy and Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar. The reason behind the confrontation was not immediately clear.

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Several opposition MPs intervened to defuse the situation. After the exchange, Banerjee left the chamber, while Bagh, Dastidar and some other NCPI members later met Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, apparently to raise the matter.

The NCPI legislators were among around 20 former TMC MPs who broke away from the party after its defeat in the West Bengal Assembly elections. The group now sits separately from the TMC benches in the Lok Sabha and has declared its support for the ruling NDA and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.