Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla assured action on BJP leader Anurag Thakur’s accusation of TMC MP smoking banned e-cigarettes in Parliament. Without taking names, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s Anurag Thakur on Thursday accused a Trinamool Congress MP of smoking banned e-cigarettes in the Lok Sabha. On Anurag Thakur’s accusation, Speaker Om Birla assured action but not before disciplining him for questioning the Speaker of the House for asking a question.
During the Question Hour of Parliament Winter Session, Thakur wondered whether e-cigarettes are allowed in the House while asking a supplementary. E-cigarettes were banned in the country a few years ago. When Birla replied in the negative, the BJP MP said a TMC member has been “constantly smoking e-cigarettes in the House for the past several days”.
This exchange took place moments after Anurag Thakur sought to ask Om Birla a question, to which the latter responded, “You cannot ask me a question.” Several BJP members demanded action against the unnamed opposition MP. Amid uproar, Birla urged member to maintain dignity of the House. Birla said if a written complaint is lodged, he will take action.
‘Can smoke outside’, says TMC
On the BJP accusation, TMC MP Saugata Roy smoking E-cigarette (within the premises of the House) is allowed outside Parliament building. “We cannot smoke inside the building, but can outside…,” he said. Hours later, BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla, in a press conference on Thursday, demanded that TMC takes action against the MP who “lowered the dignity” of the House and Constitution.
“There is a complete ban on e-cigarettes across the country since 2019. The use of any such items is completely banned in the Parliament premises. So, getting an e-cigarette in Parliament is against the law. But a TMC MP violated all these laws today. BJP MP Anurag Thakur informed the Speaker about this incident, and the Speaker has assured him of an investigation into this matter,” Poonawalla said.
