A Trinamool Congress (TMC) MLA has taken a selfie with three of his party colleagues inside the West Bengal Assembly during the ongoing Winter Session, in violation of the rules of the House.
Basirhat MLA Dipendu Biswas took the selfie with three other smiling party MLAs -- Vaishali Dalmiya, actors-turned- politicians Deboshree Roy and Nayana Das -- while being seated inside the Assembly during Friday's session.
Biswas, a former India footballer, was seated in the front while the three women MLAs were seated in the row behind his.
The selfie was tagged on his Facebook page as #Chaaderhath (a gathering of stars).
When contacted, West Bengal Assembly speaker Biman Banerjee told PTI, "Taking a selfie or any photograph inside the House is absolutely unethical.
"We have decided not to allow anybody to carry mobile phones inside the Assembly. Nobody is allowed to take photographs or selfies inside the Assembly."
The speaker said for flouting such rules, the device used to take the photo was liable to be seized as per the rules.
"We seize the device. There have been a few instances of such seizures during my tenure," he said.
When told that an MLA had taken a selfie inside the House, Banerjee said, "If brought to my notice, I will definitely take action against the person."
Biswas admitted that he had taken the selfie but denied posting it on his Facebook wall and claimed that he was "tagged by someone else".
"Yes, I had taken that selfie on Friday. But I had not posted it on my Facebook page...someone else had done it," he said.
Leader of Opposition Abdul Mannan said, "I have not seen the (Facebook) post, but this is unethical. The members of the House must follow the rules and should not break them."
Repeated calls to TMC secretary general and West Bengal Parliamentary Affairs Minister Partha Chatterjee went unanswered.
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