Hummingbird News Desk
KOLKATA, 23 SEP: Yet once again, the BJP leaderships got involved in a bitter scuffle with police after they tried to stage a demonstration with the body of their slain leader Dhurjati Saha, a defeated BJP candidate from Magrahat West, in front of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s residence in Kalighat this evening.
Yesterday, the BJP leaders had engaged in verbal spat with the police when they went to launch an election campaign on Harish Chatterjee Street. The police prevented them on the ground that the saffron brigade didn’t have the requisite permission to campaign in front of the CM’s residence.
Today, tension gripped the locality when the BJP leadership, including newly-appointed state president Sukanta Majundar, MP Arjun Singh and the party’s Bhawanipore bypoll candidate Priyanka Tibrewal, led a huge rally with Saha’s body to protest in front of Chief Minister Miss Banerjee’s residence in Kalighat that falls under the Bhabanipur Assembly constituency.
Saha, who had unsuccessfully contested the Assembly elections from Magrahat West in South 24 Parganas district on a BJP ticket, was allegedly beaten up by Trinamul ‘goons’ on the day of counting of votes on 2 May. Saha, who had suffered serious head injury in the attack, died after prolonged treatment on Wednesday. The family has demanded a CBI probe into Saha’s death.
Today, when the BJP entourage accompanied the Saha’s dead body to launch protest in front of CM’s residence, the police tried to move the body to avoid any breach in security.
This triggered a tension and the BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar immediately rushed in front of the vehicle carrying the body and sat on the ground. The police immediately tried to remove Majumdar leading a clash with the BJP workers and leaderships.
Majumdar stuck to his ground and said, “The people of entire West Bengal are watching. Is this democracy? See what Mamata Banerjee is doing. They are killing democracy but the police cannot stop us. We will again meet on the battle-field.”
Arjun Singh, who was next to Majumdar, said, “The family wanted to meet the Chief Minister and demand justice for Saha. And this is what they are getting in return. The police are forcing them out of the place. This is the Chief Minister of Bengal. There is no rule of law, only the rule of the ruling party. They are murdering democracy.”
Reacting to the incident, Trinamool Congress leader Tapas Roy said, “One should understand that they are protesting in front of the Chief Minister’s residence, which is a high-security zone. The CM has been provided Z-plus category security. This cannot happen. They (BJP) are doing this with an ulterior political motive. He (Sukanta Majumdar) has got the responsibility recently and he is trying to be in the news, but this is not expected from a person who has done his Phd. He should have been more rational.”
The police, however, said that there was an unruly gathering near the residence of the Chief Minister which they have cleared.
Claiming foul play, the BJP demanded a CBI investigation into the murder.
The family members of Saha claimed that he was brutally beaten up by Trinamool ‘goons’ on May 2, in which he had received severe head injuries. Though Saha was immediately shifted to a local hospital and then transferred to a hospital in Thakurpukur on the southern fringes of Kolkata, he succumbed to his injuries on Wednesday.
Tags: #BJP #SukantaMajumdar #PriyankaTibrewal #MamataBanerjee #CMResidence
