A 10-member Trinamul delegation in Delhi ended its protest with scathing criticism of the saffron regime at the Mandir Marg police station on Tuesday evening, a day after they were dragged and detained from outside Nirvachan Sadan by Delhi police on Monday.
Trinamul MP Abhishek Banerjee tore into the Election Commission for allegedly, in cahoots with the BJP, “trying to murder democracy” ahead of the general election.
“It is very disappointing,” he said.
“They have even manhandled women in front of the Election Commission headquarters in Delhi and put them inside police vans. This is more barbaric than the Dark Ages. This will be remembered as a Black Day,” added Mamata Banerjee’s nephew and heir-apparent.
The delegation, which stayed on at the police station in a mark of protest despite being released by the administration on Monday night, continued to demand that the EC immediately remove the heads of four major central agencies — the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the Enforcement Directorate (ED), the National Investigation Agency (NIA), and the Income Tax (IT) department — to lower the chances of their "misuse" by the saffron regime during the general election.
“We want the commission to take an impartial stand and change the heads of these agencies. We were on a 24-hour dharna here.... Women MPs were detained after sunset, we were never told what the charges were, and only after midnight they told us that we were free to leave,” said Rajya Sabha member Dola Sen, who led the delegation.
Leaders of the Aam Aadmi Party, including Saurabh Bharadwaj and Dilip Pandey, met with the delegation and expressed solidarity.
After meeting Bengal governor C.V. Ananda Bose on Monday night to complain against the treatment meted out to the delegation and seek his intervention, Trinamul national general secretary Abhishek blamed the EC for what happened.
On Tuesday, Trinamul wrote to Bose, accusing the BJP of blatantly conspiring with the four agencies and the BJP’s Jitendra Tewari of meeting NIA SP Dhan Ram Singh secretly on March 26 to hand over a list of Trinamul functionaries for the agency to arrest to inconvenience the party in the general election. It accused the EC of inaction despite Trinamul's complaints and protested against the treatment meted out to the party's Delhi delegation.
In the letter, Trinamul also reminded Bose of the need for immediate clearance from the EC for relief and rehabilitation by the state government for thousands affected by the March 31 mini-tornado in north Bengal.
After a closed-door organisational meeting with the party’s Hooghly unit at Singur, Abhishek said they would seek another appointment with the EC soon.
“If the poll panel still fails to take any action (on the alleged Singh-Tewari meeting), we will decide our next course of action,” he said.
“When the BJP raised accusations against the director general of Bengal, the (poll) commission changed the DG twice in 48 hours. Why aren’t they changing the NIA director?” he asked. “The commission cannot shirk its responsibilities. We hope that the partisan attitude of the commission is checked.”
Abhishek said the fight would continue till the EC corrects course, adding that the party would declare its political programme on the issue after meeting Bose again.
“The BJP is scared.... The BJP is doing these things as it is scared of the people.... They are trying their best to make sure that the people cannot exercise their rights in the elections,” he said.
“The BJP does not want a level playing field. They do not want peaceful, fair and democratic elections to be held,” he added.
Trinamul leader Kunal Ghosh on Tuesday claimed the NIA had started acting on Trinamul’s charges.
“NIA Sources: After @abhishekaitc’s strong stand against BJP-NIA conspiracy, now NIA summoned SP DR Sing in Delhi urgently. He is on board now. NIA is sending Rakesh Roshan, IPS from Patna to Kolkata to supervise the disputed cases,” he said on X.
“But, we want proper investigation, action against DR Sing. Don’t try to suppress the issue of that meeting. That is most dangerous plot against @AITCofficial. Don’t try to guard this kind of conspiracy. NIA should come out with proper Press release mentioning steps against DR Sing,” he added. “Moreover, we demand the change of DG NIA, as he is responsible for the whole thing, including activities of DR Sing.”
AAP support
AAP Delhi minister Saurabh Bharadwaj went to the Mandir Marg police station to offer Trinamul leaders support. He later told reporters that he was denied entry to the police station premises. “There is a model code of conduct.... The entire government machinery should come under the Election Commission. But ED, CBI and NIA raids are being conducted on Opposition parties. The Centre wants to silence the Opposition and put anyone who speaks in jail. This is totally dictatorial," Bharadwaj said.
Claiming cop bias, he said: “The BJP organised a demonstration in Connaught Place (calling for the Delhi AAP government to resign). Who gave them permission? They were not arrested.”
AAP MLAs Dilip Pandey and Sanjeev Jha also visited the police station.
