Kolkata: Liquor prices were sharply hiked in the West Bengal assembly elections on Wednesday, and opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLAs boycotted the House. Opposition parties have filed adjournment requests on a number of reasons, including reducing alcohol prices and disregarding fuel prices. BJP MLAs marched out of the House when Speaker Biman Banerjee rejected the postponement petition.
Agnimitra Paul, MLA from the BJP's ASANSOL south region, read one of the adjournment motions, saying that while the state's liquor duty has been decreased, the government has not reduced the VAT on petrol and diesel. Shankar Ghosh, a Bjp MLA from Siliguri, submitted an adjournment petition in response to the state's post-poll violence. A new proposal on unemployment has been introduced in the state legislature.
As soon as the adjournment motions were granted, the assembly speaker refused to approve them. MLAs from the BJP shouted anti-Mamata Banerjee slogans and walked out of the House. Shuvendu Adhikari, the Leader of the Opposition, told the journalists outside the House that the state administration is attempting to lead the state's young down the wrong path by slashing liquor prices by up to 30%. He predicted that the relocation will wreak havoc on many families in the state.
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