New Delhi, 02 June—In a clear demonstration of her indomitable will to fight back the ruling party in the state, Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee today claimed that the BJP “rigged” counting in 177 of the 294 seats, which went for polls to win the recently concluded West Bengal elections and added that she would not abandon TMC workers in “these difficult times”.
Referring to large-scale arrests of leaders on charges of corruption, intimidation and extortion, and the alleged torture of party workers after the TMC’s defeat in the recent days, the former Bengal Chief Minister said that the party will fight on all fronts.
Addressing TMC supporters at a day-long dharna in central Kolkata to protest against alleged post-poll attacks on party workers and leaders following the BJP’s victory in recent assembly elections, Banerjee said anti-BJP parties would soon have a country-wide opposition programme.
“Very soon, all anti-BJP parties will meet in Delhi. Wait for a few days and we will soon announce our country-wide course of action,” the TMC chief said, referring to the scheduled INDIA bloc meeting next week.
Banerjee reached the dharna site at Esplanade’s Y-channel after the TMC’s appeal to hold the protest at the adjacent Rani Rashmoni Road was turned down by the Kolkata Police.
In a post on X, Banerjee called the sit-in protest a programme “against post-poll violence, eviction of hawkers without rehabilitation, irregularities/fraud in the NEET examination, and the vindictive actions of the BJP government”.
“We were not permitted to hold our programme at the place we requested. At the alternative site, the police did not allow us to set up a stage or use microphones,” Banerjee said, while addressing the crowd using a hand-held megaphone.
“We will move court if other parties are allowed to hold political programmes at the venue where we were denied permission to protest, or if they are allowed to hold meetings with microphones. Law cannot be imposed with discrimination,” she added.
The protest was marked by intermittent chaos, with TMC workers shouting slogans amid the former Chief Minister’s speech.
“Those who have arrived here, ignoring police intimidation, should know that the men in uniform are being used by the BJP dispensation to do things they are not supposed to do. Threatening TMC workers is not part of their job profile,” Banerjee alleged.
(veteran journalist and political commentator)
