The three members of Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM), which supported BJP in the Lok Sabha elections, were allocated neutral seats in the West Bengal Assembly where the month-long budget session began today.
The seats of the GJM members were in the same row as of the lone SUCI member. In a letter to Speaker Biman Banerjee, GJM MLA from Kalimpong constituency Harka Bahadur Chhetri had sought neutral seats for the three in the 294-member House. Besides Chhetri, the two other members were Trilok Dewan from Darjeeling and Rohit Sharma from Kurseong. Earlier, the GJM legislators sat on the government side.
The seat of suspended CPI(M) member Abdur Rezzak Mollah was also relocated as was requested by the Leader of the Opposition Surjya Kanta Mishra.
The Speaker had earlier received a letter from Mishra informing him about the expulsion Mollah from the post of Left Front Chief Whip. Anisur Rahaman would be the new LF Chief Whip replacing Mollah. The month-long extended Budget session began during the day with obituary references.
