Kolkata, Feb 22 (IANS) West Bengal's ruling Trinamool Congress on Monday purportedly turned down a demand from the opposition parties for a discussion on the Jawaharlal Nehru University row in the budget session of the assembly beginning on February 25.
Opposition lawmakers present at an all-party meeting convened by Speaker Biman Banerjee ahead of the brief three-day session said that when Congress lawmaker Asit Mitra and the Socialist Unity Centre of India (Communist) suggested a discussion on the raging issue, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Partha Chatterjee opposed the demand saying the issue did not involve West Bengal.
Mitra also sought a discussion on the Jadavpur University happenings where vice chancellor Suranjan Das has come under fire from the BJP for refusing to file any police complaint against students who raised pro-Afzal Guru slogans on the campus.
Mitra pointed out that the assembly had discussed the intolerance issue in its previous session.
Leader of Opposition and Communist Party of India-Marxist politburo member Surjya Kanta Mishra proposed the duration of the session be extended by a day to hold a full-fledged discussion on the JNU and Jadavpur issues.
However, the government side did not yield.
The Congress and the CPI-M led Left Front have been repeatedly questioning the silence of the Trinamool on the JNU controversy.
Trinamool MP Sougata Roy, who backed Jadavpur vice chancellor Suranjan Das's stand, was censured by his party.
The vote on account budget for the poll-bound state would be presented at 3 p.m. on February 26.
On February 25, the session would start with the address by Governor K.N. Tripathi. Discussion on the governor's address would be held in the first half of February 26.
The budget discussions would take place on February 27.
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