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A protest march by the West Bengal BJP unit against declining law and order situation in the State and violence against BJP workers saw protesters clashing with the police in Kolkata and Howrah.
Organised by the youth wing of the BJP, the rallies were being led by the youth wing leader, Tejasvi Surya – his first rally in the State; BJP National Secretary Arvind Menon and state unit’s President, Dilip Ghosh, among others. The BJP was protesting the declining on
The situation had been tense since morning when BJP women workers tried to demonstrate near the Chief Minister’s house in south Kolkata.
The State government had denied permission for four rallies citing the coronavirus pandemic. It had pointed out that the National Disaster Management Act was in force, and gathering of more than 100 people was not allowed. The Secretariat had also been closed down for two days (Thursday and Friday), since sanitisation work was underway.
“The applicants had mentioned that there would be several rallies each with 25,000 plus youth. And allowing such rallies would be travesty of Disaster Management Act,” West Bengal Chief Secretary, Alapan Bandopadhyay, told reporters.
Rallies turn violent
However, a counter rally was organised by the Trinamool Congress on Thursday afternoon in the southern parts of Kolkata. The BJP and its youth wing had planned for the four rallies across Kolkata and Howrah to merge in front of the State secretariat.
“At least 113 people have been arrested and Divisional Commissioners are compiling their reports of the incidents,” the Chief Secretary said.
No democracy in Bengal
Criticising the police action as “high handedness”, Tejasvi Surya, President, BJP Yuva Morcha, claimed that “peaceful protest rallies were brutally lathi-charged”.
“Mamata-di (Banerjee) is afraid of the BJP and its youth wing. This fear is good, as it will help sow the seeds of a new stronger State with the BJP in power,” Surya said adding that today’s rallies and spontaneous response of the people to these indicate that they are already fed-up with unemployment, corruption in the government and “extortion by syndicates”.
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