Rampage part of BJP's planned agenda: Abhishek on violence during saffron party's 'March to Nabanna' prog
kolkata: Lauding police for staying calm even when the BJP supporters allegedly turned violent during the 'March to Nabanna' programme, Trinamool Congress (TMC) national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee on Wednesday said the rampage was part of the saffron party's planned agenda. He emphasised that the people of Bengal witnessed the violence unleashed by the BJP on Tuesday and they would decide the party's fate in Bengal.
Banerjee made these statements after paying a visit to the injured Assistant Commissioner of Police—Debjit Chatterjee—who has been undergoing treatment at SSKM Hospital. "Why was petrol carried to a 'peaceful protest'? There was no petrol pump in the vicinity (of the area where a police vehicle was torched). It means that you (BJP supporters) had brought petrol to resort to hooliganism," Banerjee asked while referring to the incident of torching a police van at MG Road.
"People had seen on television how the Assistant Commissioner of Police was beaten up by the goons. Thank God, he was wearing a helmet or else something very major could have happened. He has fractured his arm. He is likely to undergo surgery on Thursday. I had spoken to his wife and sister. I salute these police officers, who had maintained cool and did not open fire," he said. Coming down heavily on the CPI(M), Banerjee said: "The goons of CPI(M) have changed their red jersey and put on the saffron jersey. They are causing damage to government property. A police jeep was torched." Criticising Dilip Ghosh, national vice-president of the BJP, for his statement that similar movements would be launched in future, Banerjee said: "I thank him for exposing the BJP. People have seen the vandalism of the BJP and will reject the party in future."
"Had he (Dilip Ghosh) been a law-abiding and responsible citizen, he would have taken action against his partymen who resorted to violence during the protest. But, a day has passed and he hasn't spoken anything on these lines," Banerjee said.
Referring to the movements, which had been launched by Mamata Banerjee against the Left Front regime, Banerjee said: "Trinamool had never beaten up policemen through a series of movements had been launched by Mamata Banerjee. On July 21, 1993 when the police had opened fire killing youth Congress supporters, not a single policeman was beaten up."
"Had the BJP came to power in Bengal, such vandalism would have been a daily affair," he added, urging the Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court to look into the incident. Meanwhile, Mayor Firhad Hakim paid a visit to Mina Devi Purohit, the BJP councillor of ward 22. She received an injury on her head during the movement. Purohit was the former deputy mayor.
Meanwhile, TMC MP Mahua Moitra on Wednesday asked whether the Bengal government should follow its Uttar Pradesh counterpart and bulldoze houses of saffron camp leaders for destroying public property.
She tweeted: "What if Bengal used Bhogiji Ajay Bisht's model & sent bulldozers to homes of BJP workers who destroyed public property yesterday? Will BJP stand by own policy or get their chadds in a twist?" Ajay Bisht is the birth name of UP CM.