BJP leaders and workers across Bengal extended support to the “Let There Be Light, Let There Be Justice” protest call given by the junior doctors on Wednesday night.

The West Bengal Junior Doctors’ Front called for the protest, urging people across the state to switch off lights at their homes and hit the streets with candles, lamps or any form of light for an hour from 9pm on Wednesday to demand justice for the trainee physician who was raped and murdered on August 9.

“BJP’s rank and file, including the leaders, participated in the protests called by the doctors across the state. Although the event was not part of the party’s political programme, there was a clear instruction to participate in the protest,” said a BJP leader.

BJP’s IT cell chief Amit Malviya wrote on X: “Join the protest. Stand up against Mamata Banerjee’s decrepit regime, be part of the movement for justice.”

A BJP leader said the party had swung into action to ensure the protest’s success as Wednesday’s programme was reminiscent of a call given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to switch off lights in solidarity with the countrymen during the Covid-19 outbreak in April 2020.

The BJP also instructed its members to observe the scale of the protest to assess people’s mood vis-a-vis the TMC government.

“Apart from pictures and reports from the party leadership, we can also use satellite images to understand how people responded,” the leader added.

The BJP’s initial assessment suggested that people across the state responded to the call by switching off the lights at their homes, lighting lamps on their balconies and holding peaceful marches in their areas. BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar also participated in the protest called by the junior doctors near the dais of the
party’s dharna.

In addition to the doctors’ call, several civil society organisations called for a second “Reclaim the Night” protest across the state on
Wednesday, similar to the August 14th midnight protest, where thousands of women turned up and marched demanding justice.

A BJP source said that joining the protest was also aimed at retaining the party’s position in the Opposition space over the RG Kar issue after it supported the Aparajita Women and Child (West Bengal Criminal Laws Amendment) Bill, 2024, in the Assembly.

“The CPM and its frontal organisations have been taking a lead in the protest.... They are also attacking us for supporting the bill. We have to prove that we are with the protesting doctors and the public at large,” said a BJP source.

The CPM also joined the unique protest across the state as party members came out with their families to make the programme a success.

“We organised a procession from 9pm and lit candles at the assembly until midnight. Our party workers and leaders joined the protest without our party flags,” said Gautam Ghosh, a CPM state committee member.

The TMC went after the BJP and the CPM for trying to politicise the issue.

“We always support any protests called by doctors, citizens, and civil society members demanding justice for the RG Kar victim. Trinamool also demands the same. The BJP and CPM have been participating in the citizens’ protests in disguise because their party flags and politics have been rejected by the people of Bengal,” said TMC leader
Kunal Ghosh.