Ramz outside the Assembly. Picture by Pradip Sanyal

Calcutta, June 22: Ali Imran Ramz, the Forward Bloc MLA from North Dinajpur’s Chakulia, was suspended from the Assembly for the day after he refused to apologise for his comments on Mamata Banerjee’s slippers that were deemed “unparliamentary”.

The 31-year-old legislator, whose words were expunged by Speaker Biman Banerjee, later told reporters in the Assembly lobby that he had not wanted to insult the chief minister when he said that Trinamul ministers were so loyal to Mamata Banerjee that they had have got government buildings and walls painted blue and white, matching the colours of her Hawaii slippers.

“I tried to drive home the point that (Firhad) Hakim, our urban development and municipal affairs minister, should not always be seen by the side of the chief minister in Calcutta Instead, he should step out of the city and visit district towns to oversee if development work is being carried out there,” he said.

“I intended to say that the ministers were so loyal to the chief minister that they got the idea of painting government buildings and walls blue and white from the colours of her Hawaii slippers. My remarks… were not derogatory.”

Speaker Biman Banerjee, who termed Ramz’s conduct “disorderly”, said he suspended the Bloc MLA under Section 347 of the Assembly for “disorderly conduct after he used some unparliamentary words against the chief minister”.

The Opposition staged a walkout.

The commotion began in the second half of the House session around 2.30pm when Ramz, participating in a discussion on the budget of the urban development and municipal affairs department, kept bringing up the name of the chief minister. When Treasury members voiced dissent, Ramz, who was speaking in Urdu, did not pay heed.

Some Trinamul MLAs rushed in to the Well of the House while others started saying that Ramz was insulting Mamata, taking advantage of the fact that not many in the Assembly understood Urdu.

Speaker Banerjee then stepped in to say Ramz’s words were “unparliamentary and insulting towards the chief minister”. He asked Ramz to apologise or he would be suspended, but the MLA tried to explain he said nothing unparliamentary. “Since you are not going to apologise, this House is suspending you for the rest of the day,” the Speaker told him.

Ramz is son of the late Bloc MLA Ramzan Ali, who was murdered in 1994. Wife Tawlat Sultana, Ramz’s mother, was convicted and is serving life term.