Mamata takes dig at LF, Cong; calls them 'agents of BJP'

Kolkata: Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee on Saturday hit out at the Left Front and Congress, terming them as 'agents of BJP'.

"We are not with those who resort to violence in the name of movement. They are agents of BJP. You should abstain from violence like setting buses on fire, as such acts in the name of protest weaken the actual movement," Banerjee said, after a section of students affiliated with the Left Front questioned her presence on the same stage with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Millennium Park on Saturday evening.

Banerjee has been at the forefront of the movement against National Register of Citizens (NRC) and Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). However, when she was at the programme, a section of students from Jadavpur University and Presidency University tried to break the police barricade at Dorina crossing and tried to confront the Trinamool Chatra Parishad (TMCP) activists, who have been observing dharna against CAA and NRC since Friday.

The Trinamool supremo addressed the students from the stage of TMCP and then went to attend the PM's programme at Millennium Park. Receiving information about the ruckus at Dorina crossing, Banerjee again returned to the venue and told the Leftist agitators to observe restraint and stay calm.

"I am the only leader who met Narendra Modi and told him that the CAA, NRC and NPR cannot be implemented. We have been protesting from day one against the CAA. The issue before both of us (TMCP and Left student unions) is the same, so please don't deviate from it," she said.

Banerjee had earlier expressed her displeasure over Left Front and Congress, who had unleashed hooliganism and violence in the name of observing bandh in the state on Wednesday.

She also declared that she would not take part in the Oppositions' meeting in Delhi on January 13, as the Left Front and Congress in the state are resorting to the path of violence.