Marshals escort Trinamool Congress MLA Kunal Ghosh out of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly during an uproar in the House, in Kolkata, Wednesday, July 22, 2026.
\| Photo Credit: PTI

Trinamool Congress MLA Kunal Ghosh was on Wednesday (July 22, 2026) marshalled out of the West Bengal Assembly for disrupting the speech of Opposition Chief Whip Akhruzzaman.

Mr. Ghosh, a Mamata Banerjee loyalist, was upset at not being allowed to speak during the discussion on the Home Department’s budget. Mr. Akhruzaman belongs to the dissident camp of the Trinamool Congress led by Leader of the Opposition Ritabrata Banerjee.

Dispute between the two rival groups of the Trinamool Congress was brewing over the past two days over who would be given priority in speaking in the House during discussions. Mr. Ghosh and other Mamata loyalists have been claiming that Mr. Akhruzzaman has been striking out the names of MLAs who are loyalist to Ms. Banerjee to participate in discussions in the Assembly.

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During the proceedings in the Assembly on Wednesday, when Mr. Akhruzzaman started discussion on the Budget of the Home Department, Mr. Ghosh went in front of his seat and interrupted: “Why are you crossing out my name [in the list of speakers]?”

While Mr. Akhruzzaman continued his speech, Mr. Ghosh continued to question him. Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Shankar Ghosh and Higher Education Minister Jagannath Chatterjee tried to intervene. Speaker Rathindra Basu requested Mr. Ghosh to return to his seat. When Mr. Ghosh did not move, the Speaker warned him “Kunalbabu, if you do not return to your seat, I will be forced to throw you out”.

Noisy protests

Mr. Ghosh resisted eviction, prompting Assembly marshals to lift and carry him out of the House after repeated appeals by the Speaker failed to restore order. The scuffle triggered noisy protests, with members descending into the well of the House before proceedings could resume. The developments in the Assembly came a day after the Mamata Banerjee loyalists and dissidents in the Ritabrata Banerjee camp held public meetings in Kolkata targeting each other.

The Speaker subsequently suspended Mr. Ghosh from the House for the remainder of the day. Industries Minister Tapas Roy initially demanded that Mr. Ghosh be suspended for the rest of the ongoing Assembly session till Saturday, citing his “unruly behaviour”. Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, however, intervened, saying there was no need to “make him a hero” by suspending him for the entire session and suggested that a suspension for the day would suffice. The Chief Minister expressed his displeasure over the developments and said he was Leader of the Opposition and never witnessed such a behaviour.

Speaking to media persons later in the day, Mr. Ghosh said the BJP in West Bengal wanted to control the Opposition. “They [BJP government] are not willing to listen to any criticism. Even in the past I was not allowed to speak when Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay [leader of Mamata loyalist group] had nominated me,” he said.

Mr. Ghosh said the MLAs of the dissident group of Trinamool Congress did not criticise the BJP government and were being promoted by the BJP government.

Published - July 22, 2026 09:59 pm IST