The West Bengal Legislative Assembly on Tuesday (June 10, 2025) unanimously passed a “resolution conveying appreciation for the Indian armed forces”. Speaker Biman Banerjee claimed that this was the first instance of the Assembly passing a resolution in support of the armed forces after the recent conflict with Pakistan.
Bharatiya Janata Party legislators also joined the debate and supported the resolution but raised questions on why reference to “Operation Sindoor” was absent in the resolution.
“This House commends the coordinated efforts of the different wings of the Indian armed forces in targeting with absolute precision and destroying major terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir [PoK] and places on record its gratitude and appreciation for their relentless efforts in protecting the pride and dignity of the nation,” read the resolution.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said other Assemblies in the country and the Parliament should bring similar resolutions.
Noisy scenes
The three-hour debate witnessed noisy scenes with the BJP legislators raising slogans during the Chief Minister’s speech and before that the members of Treasury benches interrupting the address of Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari.
The Chief Minister emphasised that “terrorism” had no religion and stressed that border guarding forces and agencies should be more alert in future. Upset with the BJP legislators’ repeated disruptions, Ms. Banerjee said the government had failed on all counts and “must resign”. She also accused the BJP leadership of politicising “Operation Sindoor”. While the BJP legislators tried to disrupt the speech by chanting “Modi-Modi”, the Trinamool MLAs raised slogans of “Didi-Didi”.
Ms. Banerjee also targeted fashion designer-turned BJP MLA Agnimitra Paul and said she “will listen to her on fashion and not on politics”. This evoked sharp response from the BJP legislators, including Mr. Adhikari.
Participating in the debate, Mr. Adhikari repeatedly asked, “what is the issue with the name of Operation Sindoor” and why there was no reference to Operation Sindoor in the text of the resolution. The BJP leader also urged the Speaker to include “targeted killing” at Pahalgam in the text of the resolution. The Speaker said that since the Opposition leader had not submitted a written amendment to the resolution, his request could not be accepted. Mr. Adhikari said that at least three legislators of the Trinamool Congress had made derogatory comments on ‘Operation Sindoor’.
A ruckus erupted in the House when Mr. Adhikari accused West Bengal Minister Udayan Guha of targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his recent remarks and the Minister said he would not hesitate to repeat the remarks in future. Senior Ministers Bratya Basu and Chandrima Bhattacharya participated in the debate from the Treasury benches while the BJP legislators spoke in Santhali and Kurmali language while participating in the debate. Indian Secular Front MLA Nawshad Siddique also participated in the debate and supported the resolution.
This was the second instance that the Trinamool Congress and BJP legislators have unanimously passed a resolution. Prior to this in August 2024, the MLAs of Opposition and Treasury Benches unanimously passed a resolution opposing any division of West Bengal.
