BJP leaders displayed a united show on Thursday as they marched to Swasthya Bhawan, demanding the resignation of chief minister Mamata Banerjee over the rape and murder of the junior doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9.
The march to the state health department headquarters in Salt Lake began in the afternoon from Hudco Crossing where senior state leaders, including state president Sukanta Majumdar, Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, former state president Dilip Ghosh and senior MLA Agnimitra Paul were present.
The streets echoed with chants of “We want justice” as party activists, including many women, joined in demanding accountability and an end to violence against women. The rally, led by the top state BJP leadership, was met with police barricades near Indira Bhawan in Salt Lake nearly four kilometres from Swastha Bhawan preventing them from proceeding further towards the health department headquarters.
When the BJP supporters were trying to push through the barricades, Adhikari and party MP Samik Bhattacharya were put inside the prison van. The police also wanted to arrest Majumdar, who was walking along with Ghosh, but party workers managed to
free him.
Sukanta, who walked with a party flag, said: “The only solution to the situation is the resignation of the chief minister. Even if the police obstruct us, we will continue with our movement. The BJP will remain on the streets until justice is served.”
The police also tried to arrest Arjun Singh but the party supporters blocked them and prevented the former Barrackpore MP from getting arrested.
Political observers, however, believe that the BJP was late in capitalising on the present situation of the state and now they are mobilising people to make the most out of it.
“When other political parties were hitting the streets and staying by the side of the doctors and the common people, the BJP state leadership was busy with the legalities of the case. This was not expected from the state’s main Opposition party. Realising this, now they are trying to get back the touch of the common people,” a political observer said.
The same message was conveyed to the state leadership by central leaders Sunil Bansal and Mangal Pandey, who are in charge of Bengal, during a virtual meeting on Tuesday night.
According to party sources, Bansal emphasised that merely putting on a show would not suffice and the leaders need to be out on the streets, actively engaging with the people.
The central leaders also stressed that the party should not focus solely on votes or immediate gains. Instead, they must stay connected with the people, even if it means doing so without flags and banners.
“This approach will benefit them in the long run,” a senior leader quoted Bansal.
When asked about it, Majumdar said: “We are already in the movement. We have requested people to come without flags. We will accept them.”
“We demand that the government must reveal the truth for the sake of ensuring justice to the victim. The state government and health department are trying to conceal facts. The health department and RG Kar Hospital authorities have tried to erase evidence,” Dilip Ghosh, who was also present at the dharna on Wednesday evening, said.