The oath-taking ceremony for Members of Parliament to the 17th Lok Sabha on 17-18 June was, on several occasions, drowned in shouts of “Jai Shri Ram.”
The chant (read heckling) was observed to have been reserved particularly for Trinamool Congress MPs, Muslim MPs like Asaduddin Owaisi of the AIMIM, Azam Khan of SP, Shafiqur Rehman Barq and ST Hasan, and former Congress President Sonia Gandhi.
However, Trinamool Congress MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar decided to counter the heckling with a chant of her own – “Jai Maa Kali.”
The three-time MP from Bengal’s Barasat constituency kept up an unrelenting barrage of “Jai Maa kali” till she reached the microphone to read her oath.
TMC MP from Howrah, Prasun Banerjee had a similar experience. The former Indian football team captain was allegedly heckled by BJPs MPs while he was taking oath. He was seen turning around right after and asking them what they had said.
The Quint spoke to TMC MPs Ghosh Dastidar and Prasun Banerjee to get a first-hand account of what went down in Parliament on Tuesday.
Is the TMC Using ‘Jai Maa Kali’ as a Political Slogan ?
Ghosh, responding to the question of the TMC politicising “Jai Maa Kali” just like “Jai Shri Ram” has been, told The Quint that the chant of “Jai Shri Ram” is alien to Bengal and not something she had ever heard earlier in the state.
When they were shouting “Jai Shri Ram” the proceedings were getting disturbed no doubt. When I saw that I also felt that they were hurting the Bengali sentiments because Bengalis are worshippers of Durga and Kali.Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, TMC MP to The Quint
‘Hello Footballer, Go Play Football’
Asked what he turned around to say to the BJP MPs seated behind him while he was taking oath, Banerjee said “I’m a three-time MP and they are behaving in this worthless way.” He alleged that they were heckling him on his past identity as a footballer.
Somebody from behind, some of the BJP MPs were saying something and I was listening. Hello, you footballer, go play football. What is this? Because you are 300 and we are 22 you are behaving like this? Is this discipline ?Prasun Banerjee, TMC MP to The Quint
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)