Siliguri, Feb. 25: The Opposition councillors of Siliguri Municipal Corporation (SMC) today walked out from the monthly board meeting to protest against “unparliamentary and derogatory” remarks made by a civic official over the formulation of the BPL list.

Ranjan Shilsharma, a Trinamul Congress councillors, said: “The BPL list was not made in the appropriate manner and we want a revised and fresh one.” He was joined by Krishna Pal, the Opposition leader, and others.

After hearing the Opposition councillors, the SMC chairman, Dilip Singh, asked Mukul Sengupta, the member in mayor-in-council (conservancy), to reply.

Sengupta in his reply referred to the Opposition comments on the BPL list as gorur rachana (an essay on cow). This infuriated the Opposition leaders who jumped up from their chairs and started shouting. “The language used by Sengupta is not only unparliamentary, but derogatory as well. He must withdraw his comment and apologise,” Pal told the chairman, thumping the table. Shilsharma, Sadananda Das of the Congress and Arunprasad Sarkar of the BJP joined the protest.

The mayor, Bikash Ghosh, and his deputy, Munshi Nurul Islam, tried to pacify the agitated members, but the Opposition councillors walked out.

Sengupta later ruled out apologising and said he did not use any “unparliamentary comment”.