The Bengal Opposition, led by the BJP and CPM, kept its intense focus on the R.G. Kar tragedy for ten consecutive days, escalating demands for Mamata Banerjee’s resignation.

As both parties plan to take to the streets as part of their ongoing political activities, they have cancelled or postponed their planned political events to prioritise the current issue, which has already gained national traction.

According to the BJP’s organisational constitution, the party is required to conduct a membership drive every six years, during which all existing memberships are cancelled. The drive will begin on September 1, starting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s membership renewal, followed by other senior leaders. The entire membership drive will continue for one month.

In Bengal, the membership drive will also commence under the leadership of the state’s chief spokesperson, Samik Bhattacharya. On September 1, all senior leaders will renew their memberships, but the party will not engage booth-level workers due to the intense political situation in the state.

“The central leadership has communicated with Bhattacharya and other senior leaders, advising them to continue their protests against the R.G. Kar tragedy. The central leadership has assured that the state will be given additional time to complete their membership drive,” a senior party leader stated.

The first meeting regarding this was initially scheduled for August 21, but it has been postponed due to a series of planned protests throughout the week.

“There will be a meeting, but the date is yet to be decided. We will inform you once it is scheduled,” Bhattacharya said.

With their demand, the state BJP decided to campaign against the Mamata Banerjee government and police, accusing it of attempting to tamper with evidence and mislead the investigation.

The party leadership claimed that they would continue to corner Mamata Banerjee’s government, citing ‘ample indications’ to justify their demand.

“This is what the people of the state want to know, and if the chief minister has the moral courage, she will reply. If not, she should step down; otherwise, we know how to force her to resign,” said Sukanta Majumdar, the BJP state president.

The BJP has planned a week-long ‘dharna’ near R.G. Kar to press for Mamata’s resignation, which will commence once they receive an order from the Calcutta High Court.

“We have approached the court, and our plea will be heard at 10:30 am tomorrow. If the order allowing us to hold the dharna is granted, we will take to the streets tomorrow,” said Majumdar, adding that the party plans to organise a large rally to gherao Swasthya Bhavan, the state health department headquarters, to ‘shake’ the Mamata Banerjee government.

On Monday, the BJP observed Raksha Bandhan at 15 locations in Calcutta, with its women leaders tying the thread to hundreds of people, urging them to protest the R.G. Kar brutality and save Bengal from lawlessness.

A delegation of women from the saffron camp met with governor CV Ananda Bose to inform him about the police’s alleged torture of common people protesting the R.G. Kar brutality.

Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari on Monday urged the father of the R.G. Kar victim to call for a march to Nabanna.

“I want to request the victim’s father to call for a march to Nabanna with the national flag. He doesn’t need to join the march. We will do whatever is required. We can’t give the call due to our political obligations,” said Adhikari.

The CPM has announced the cancellation of their extended state committee meeting, which was scheduled for August 23-25, while the BJP has decided to delay their membership recruitment program, originally set to begin on September 1.

The party, which had initially planned to hold an extended session of the state committee in Kalyani, Nadia, to review the Lok Sabha election results and set guidelines for the upcoming conference, has decided to postpone it due to the current situation in the state.

“People are out on the streets in protest. At such a time, we cannot remain indoors. Students, youth, and women are on the front lines, assisting those who are being attacked and burdened with legal cases. Considering the situation, we have decided to postpone the Kalyani program,” CPM state secretary Md Salim said.