Suvendu Adhikari, the leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, announced on Saturday that he would stage a sit-in demonstration in front of Raj Bhavan in Calcutta in protest against the violence allegedly perpetrated by the Trinamool Congress across the state against BJP workers after the notification of the general election.
Adhikari on Saturday reached Cooch Behar, where the BJP had to face defeat in Parliament polls, and met some party supporters who, he alleged, had been the victims of the violence.
“I have written a letter to the commissioner of Kolkata Police, seeking permission for a ‘dharna’ at the same place where they had allowed Abhishek Banerjee to sit a few months back. He has not responded so far. I shall give him a reminder on Tuesday,” said Adhikari, while talking to newspersons in Calcutta.
The announcement is being seen as a bid by the BJP to exert pressure on Trinamool and the state administration.
In October last year, Mamata Banerjee’s nephew and the TMC’s national general secretary, Abhishek Banerjee, had sat on a dharna in front of Raj Bhavan for five days, alleging that the Narendra Modi government at the Centre had withheld funds under different welfare schemes.
Adhikari’s remarks and his posts on social media hint that the BJP wants to adopt a legal and constitutional approach to corner the TMC government.
On one hand, the BJP leader has sent a letter to the commissioner of police. On the other hand, he also filed a petition with Calcutta High Court, concerning post-poll violence.
Adhikari also said he had written to the governor to give them some time on Sunday so that he could meet him with violence victims. Governor C.V. Ananda Bose, he said, had agreed to meet them.
On Thursday, he had tried to meet the governor with a group of BJP supporters but was stopped by the police, who had cited the imposition of prohibitory orders in the area.
The move had prompted Bose to seek a report from the home secretary of the state.
Adhikari, who had also moved the court against this illegal prevention, was granted permission to meet the governor if an appointment was arranged.
The Nandigram MLA said he stood in support of the affected BJP supporters in his “limited capacity”.
In Cooch Behar, Adhikari met BJP members of two panchayats where the party is in power. Later, he met some party workers who had been staying away from their homes as TMC workers allegedly intimidated them and ransacked vandalised their houses.
“I will visit your homes and will always be there with you. We have made arrangements for them so that they can stay at the party office and in other places. We are also providing medical and legal help to them,” he said.
While Adhikari visited the district, Trinamool leaders of Cooch Behar inducted members of two BJP-led panchayats on Saturday into the party.
In Cooch Behar, BJP had bagged 24 of 128 panchayats in the rural polls held last year. Since June 4, BJP members of seven panchayats have defected to Trinamool following which the ruling party of the state has secured a majority in these rural bodies.
While Adhikari is piling pressure on the state government, the national leadership of the BJP has decided to send a team to assess the “post-poll” scenario in Bengal.
BJP president J.P. Nadda has constituted a four-member committee to investigate the incidents of post-poll political violence in Bengal.
The committee will be headed by Biplab Kumar Deb, the former chief minister of Tripura, with BJP MPs Ravi Shankar Prasad, Brij Lal, and Kavita Patidar being other members.
