Some parts of Howrah and central Kolkata turned into hostile areas as violence occurred between the police and supporters of the BJP during the protest march against Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday.
The streets of Kolkata and Howrah were jammed with thousands of BJP supporters who were all making their way to the State Secretariat. Sukanta Majumdar, head of the BJP in the state, was arrested and taken to the Chitpur police station.
Police used tear gas and water cannons to break up the protests as the protesters made their way toward the state Secretariat. Although barricades were set up at strategic locations throughout the city and its outskirts, some protesters still attempted to cross them.
In Santragachhi, the protesters threw stones at police personnel, while in Kolkata’s Lal bazar, they torched a police car. Protesters and police also battled in the Howrah and MG Road sections of Kolkata.
Ravi Shankar Prasad, a senior BJP leader, and former Union minister warned at a press conference that “all norms of brutality and political violence” have been crossed in West Bengal on Tuesday.
“The TMC government fears a public uprising. Even if they try to block our protest march, we will resist peacefully. The state administration will be responsible for any unfavorable development,” Mr. Ghosh said earlier today.
Rahul Sinha claimed that the Mamata Banerjee administration was trying to stifle the “democratic protest” by his party via force.
“Bengal has been a vast region rich in intellectual and cultural traditions. But under the leadership of Mamata Ji, the state has become a lawless and bankrupt state,” he said.
The BJP leader criticized Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for silencing its members through “police torture.”
“CM Mamata Banerjee must address our questions. She talks about defending the constitution outside of Bengal, but inside the state, she does everything she can to restrict the democratic and civil rights of the people “he added.
Prasad continued by stating the Chief Minister’s behavior has been “contrary” to her political evolution. He did this by pointing out that the Chief Minister rose from the grassroots and fought hard against the earlier Left rule.
According to him, the leader of the TMC has now surpassed the Left in terms of inflicting atrocities and brutalities on members of the BJP.
The BJP’s “Nabanna Abhijan” (march to the state secretariat) against the ruling TMC’s allegedly corrupt practices turned violent after party activists fought with the police.
According to reports, the standoff resulted in the injuries of several police personnel as well as members of the saffron camp, including leaders Mina Devi Purohit and Swapan Dasgupta.
Suvendu Adhikari, the head of the opposition in the Bengal Assembly, was held together with Locket Chatterjee, an MP for the party in Hooghly, and senior party leader Rahul Sinha.
Mr. Adhikari was in charge of the marchers from the Santragachi area, while BJP national vice president Dilip Ghosh was in charge of the protesters in north Kolkata.
“Everyone witnessed how the partisan police attempted to scuttle a leader of the opposition’s democratic right to protest outside Nabanna. I was assaulted by a woman constable, people witnessed it,” Adhikari told reporters before being taken into custody.
In a Twitter post, BJP’s IT coordinator Amit Malviya stated that male police constables of Kolkata Police assaulted female protesters on the orders of Mamata Banerjee.
Additionally, party members were put into preventive custody in Raniganj.
Yesterday evening, he claimed, the BJP’s followers were prevented from boarding a special train from Alipurduar to Sealdah so that they could take part in the protest march. “They were also lathi-charged by the state police,” he alleged.
To get its followers to the ‘Nabanna Abhijan,’ the BJP booked seven trains, three from the north and four from South Bengal.
Sources inside the BJP said buses bringing party supporters to Kolkata were also stopped by police in the North 24 Parganas district.
