The Trinamul Congress on Friday hit the streets across the state to put up a counter-narrative in the wake of the arrest of the party’s Birbhum district president Anubrata Mondal in a cattle smuggling case.
Trinamul minister Chandrima Bhattacharya, while highlighting the CBI’s alleged inaction against Suvendu Adhikari in allegations relating to the Sarada and Narada scams, announced state-wide protests in support of Mondal.
The party had desisted from doing so a few weeks ago following the arrest of education minister Partha Chatterjee in the SSC scam, with insiders citing “poor optics of the recovery of cash” tied to the case.
“We have deployed our student and youth wings in state-wide protests spanning Friday and Saturday. We want to send a message that while the party supports the rule of law, we do not support vested interest, vendetta and bias,” said a party leader in Calcutta.
“The perception is that the Trinamul is now on the back foot, with Central agencies having rounded-up two party leaders, but we also want to make clear that the BJP has ulterior motives in doing this,” they added.Several protest rallies were held in Calcutta and Bengal on Friday afternoon, with a notable one being held at Hazra junction.
A source said these would continue till Saturday evening.“Our aim is to ensure each district and block witnesses a notable protest against the BJP’s unfair tactics,” said a student leader.
As many as 19 rallies were held in Birbhum, Mondal’s home district. Birbhum MLA and zila sabhadipati Bikash Roychowdhury helmed a speech at one, where he contended that BJP leadership were “using” central agencies to target the Trinamul.
“Agencies are being used in a biased fashion, so we will protest until this injustice is stopped,” he said.
On the flip side, Bengal BJP units celebrated Mondal’s arrest and took out token processions where they made offerings to cows in public, making reference to the cause of Mondal’s arrest. In a news conference later in the day, BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar announced a September 7 sit-in at the state secretariat where BJP workers would “demand answers” from chief minister Mamata Banerjee.A source said the front-foot moves from the BJP were instructed by Sunil Bansal, the newly-appointed Bengal BJP minder.