Kolkata, Feb 6 (PTI) The BJP staged a walk-out of the West Bengal assembly on Friday, alleging insult to economist and party MLA Ashok Lahiri, after Finance Minister Chandrima Bhattacharya uttered the word “humpty dumpty” while commenting on an earlier remark of the legislator about the state budget.

Catching on Lahiri's words describing the state budget as nothing but "humpty dumpty", Bhattacharya said, "I don't know whether, despite being an economist, Ashok Lahiri reads in Bengali and writes in English." Reciting the nursery rhyme, she then went on to state, "You say that our government failed to bring about any development in the last 15 years, and that we presented a humpty dumpty budget. In saying so, you misled the House." In the middle of Bhattacharya’s speech, BJP legislators, led by Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, stood up and left the House, raising slogans claiming she had insulted Lahiri's reputation and standing.

Slogans like “shame, shame” and “won’t tolerate insult to Bengalis” filled the air of the assembly portico, where the BJP MLAs continued their protest.

Both Lahiri and Bhattacharya seemed to have borrowed the portmanteau rhyme from West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who on February 1 described the Union Budget as “humpty dumpty”.

“This is a humpty dumpty budget and full of lies. It deprives all sections of society including women, youths, students and backward communities,” the CM had said.

Without referring directly to Banerjee’s statement, Bhattacharya took a potshot at Lahiri during her response to the BJP leader’s statement in the assembly.

"You know very well that instead of our people-centric budget, the Union Budget was itself a humpty dumpty budget having no direction," she said. PTI SUS SMY RBT