The streets of Calcutta erupted on Saturday with Opposition parties taking out rallies to attack Trinamul and chief minister Mamata Banerjee over the alleged recruitment scam. Members of the CPM and the BJP were detained by Calcutta police during the day, allegedly to prevent them from taking out rallies.
Bengal BJP chief and Balurghat MP Sukanta Majumdar was picked up from Hazra crossing and taken to Lalbazar and released later in the evening. The party alleged that 30 BJP workers — including Majumdar — had been picked up by police.
“Our president had gone to Hazra near the residence of the chief minister for a symbolic protest against corruption…. He had gone to put up a poster there,” said state BJP’s chief spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya.
“The police have every right to maintain law and order. But our president was manhandled by civic volunteers today. Someone gagged him when he tried to speak to journalists,” he said.
Majumdar’s detention sparked off protests at various parts of the state. When he was released, BJP workers, waiting in front of the Lalbazar headquarters, had a minor clash with the police. Majumdar led a rally from Lalbazar to the BJP state headquarters in central Calcutta.
Thespian Bimal Chakraborty taken to a police van earlier in the day in Gariahat. Sourced by The Telegraph
The Left held protests across the state, including a few in Calcutta, on Saturday.
As CPM supporters gathered at Gariahat for a rally, police detained 16 party workers, including thespian Bimal Chakraborty. Despite this, the CPM took out rallies from Gariahat and Tollygunge Phari that ended at Hazra crossing, where party state secretary Md Salim spoke.
“Where is our democratic right to protest? If this continues next time our programmes will happen unannounced. The police commissioner will be responsible for it,” Salim said on the detention of 16 colleagues.
The Congress also joined the protest over the SSC scam on Saturday. PCC chief and MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury led the rally from the party’s headquarters on CIT Road. He marched to the Gandhi statue on Mayo Road where SSC job aspirants are sitting on an indefinite dharna.
Addressing a news conference before the rally, Chowdhury attacked Mamata Banerjee and said the chief minister must take responsibility for the corruption and resign.
The CPM has given the call for three separate rallies on Sunday. The rallies will start from Shovabazar metro station, Belgachia metro station and Khanna crossing and will conclude at Shyambazar crossing. The Left Front has also extended its support to a citizen’s rally on Monday that has been convened by a section of Bengal’s civil society.
In the backdrop of the protests, education minister Bratya Basu has called for an emergency meeting on Monday. Though the agenda for the meeting has not yet been specified, the announcement comes a day after Basu and Trinamul national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee met a delegation of SSC aspirants at the Diamond Harbour MP’s Camac Street office.
