The Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Sunday complained to Rajya Sabha Chairman, alleging that Dinesh Trivedi took the “House for a ride” and spoke on the floor despite not being on the list of speakers.

Trivedi, a known Mamata Banerjee-loyalist, on Friday announced his resignation from the Rajya Sabha and the party in a dramatic fashion on the floor of the House. He is rumoured to be heading towards BJP.

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In a letter to the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, TMC’s chief whip in the Rajya Sabha Sukhendu Sekhar Roy claimed that the TMC had recommended only two names as speakers for the discussion on Union Budget 2021-22, but Trivedi was “allowed” to use the floor of the House for his “devious political ends”.

The TMC’s allotted time on the discussion was exhausted after both the speakers spoke on their designated days, Roy said as he questioned why Trivedi was allowed to speak despite this.

“At about 1.25 pm on 12 February 2021, when the Hon’ble Finance Minister was about to give reply to the Budget discussion, one member of AITC, Sri Dinesh Trivedi, since resigned, was allowed to speak for about four minutes from 1.25 pm to 1.29 pm, although his name was not recommended by the AITC as speaker in the Budget discussion and no time was left for the party,” he said.

“The incident as narrated hereinabove and the manner in which Sri Trivedi grossly misutilised the floor of the House for his devious political ends and also the way he was allowed to have taken the House for a ride is absolutely unprecedented, unwarranted and is devoid of not only decorum and etiquette as envisaged in ‘Rajya Sabha at Work’, but also against all rules, norms and traditions of this august House,” the letter added.

It is a matter of great concern that although there were adequate mechanism under the rules to restrain the unruly member, it was not adopted, Roy wrote.

“I would urge upon you to immediately constitute an inquiry into the matter and to find out the reasons behind such unprecedented illegality committed,” he added.

While addressing the upper house of the Parliament, Trivedi said that he felt suffocated as he was unable to carry out any work for the people or do anything for the violence going on in the poll-bound West Bengal.

“If you sit here quietly and cannot do anything, then it is better that you resign from here and go to the land of Bengal and be with people,” he said in the Upper House of Parliament.

Trivedi said the world looks at India when something happens.

“What I mean to say is the way violence is taking place in our state. Sitting here, I am feeling perplexed as to what should I do,” he added.

The Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP said he was unable to tolerate various incidents of violence that were taking in West Bengal, where the state assembly elections are due in March-April this year.

“I am grateful to my party that it has sent me here, but now I feel a little suffocated. We are unable to do anything and there is atrocity (going on). My voice of conscience is saying what Swami Vivekananda used to say — arise, awake and stop not till the goal is reached,” Trivedi said, while announcing his resignation from the House.

Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh Narayan Singh said there is a due process for resigning from the House and asked Trivedi to submit his resignation in writing to the chairman.

With PTI inputs