BJP stir in Bengal Assembly over Adenovirus deaths

Accusing the Mamata Banerjee government of not doing enough to check the spread of adenovirus, the BJP on Thursday demanded a statement from the chief minister on the recent deaths caused by the infection. The BJP legislature party, towards the end of the first half of the assembly session, moved an adjournment motion demanding a discussion on Adenovirus scare, but speaker Biman Banerjee refused to admit it, prompting the saffron party legislators to stage a protest in the House.

The speaker then adjourned the House for recess.

Later, talking to reporters, Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari said, "We wanted a discussion in the House on Adenovirus. It was not allowed, and so we had to resort to protests. The state had been trying to hide facts and figures about the number of cases and deaths."


The CM had on Monday said in the assembly that six children died in the state due to Adenovirus, and urged people to start using face masks again to combat the menace.

Reacting to BJP's protest in the assembly, junior state health minister Chandrima Bhattacharya said the opposition party has made it a "habit" of skipping CM's speech and then cribbing over the same issue.

"Whenever the chief minister delivers a speech in the house, the opposition makes it a point to remain absent, and then seek a statement. Why is the opposition party of our state behaving so irresponsibly?" she added.