Uproar in Tripura House as guv refuses to read full speech
NEW DELHI/AGARTALA: The CPI (M) on Saturday termed the Tripura governor’s move to skip reading out parts of his speech, which contained the Left Front government’s criticism of the Centre’s policies, as “unconstitutional” and an “attack on democracy.
“What the governor has done is unconstitutional. He is bound by constitutional provisions. The governor speaks on behalf of the government and reads out the speech cleared by the state government,” senior CPI (M) leader Tapan Sen told HT.
The opposition TMC and Congress too flayed governor Tathagata Roy’s conduct during the speech on the opening day of the budget session on Friday.
Sen said the governor’s action showed his “scant” regard for constitutional provisions. “When president addresses the joint session of parliament, he reads the speech cleared by the government... The constitutional scheme of things mandate the same for the governors, too.”
After reading the first two pages, Roy told the Assembly, “I have read out two pages and now I will read out after para 95.” .
The Opposition alleged that the part of the speech, which contained statements such as the communal situation in the country was tense, minorities and Dalits were under attack, and intolerance was rising, was not read out. Similarly, the speech also omitted parts dealing with “hardship people are facing due to demonetisation.”