After a gap of seven months, Trinamool Congress MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay addressed the Martyrs' Day rally at Esplanade on Friday afternoon.
Bandyopadhyay thanked party supremo Mamata Banerjee for giving him the opportunity to speak at the meeting. He was arrested by CBI on January 3 in connection with the multi-crore Rose Valley scam and was kept behind bars at Bhubaneshwar. His health started breaking down in the hospital and Mamata Banerjee had visited him at the hospital some months ago.
"I had attended the Trinamool Congress foundation day meeting on January 1 and was arrested on January 3. I will not say anything about my experience in the custody here. That I will disclose before the Parliament, but I am thankful to Mamata Banerjee for allowing me to speak in front of you," Bandyopadhyay said to the masses.
After being released on
bail, Bandyopadhyay had said that he would start political activities soon.
He maintained that BJP's adamant attitude has affected the country's federal structure very badly. "This is a serious threat to Parliamentary democracy as BJP cannot take any criticism by the Opposition parties. We had opposed note ban as we thought it would affect the country economically and that has come true", he said.
He said BJP was creating trouble at Darjeeling where the state government had carried out a series of development activities.
"BJP is engineering trouble there to reap benefits out of it," he remarked. He also urged party workers to resist BJP's attempt to divide Bengal on the basis of religion and community.