Kolkata, 10th April: The ruling party in Kolkata Trinamool Congress is holding protests across the state on Wednesday in criticism of the incident, when a day after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Finance Minister Amit Mitra were heckled outside the Planning Commission office in Delhi by Students Federation of India (SFI) activists.
The Trinamool Congress workers are staging rallies, holding protests in Kolkata and other parts of the state to protest against the SFI attack on their leaders, reports said.
CM Mamata Banerjee and Trinamool Congress’s general secretary Mukul Roy have urged supporters to ensure peace at the rally.
Security has been beefed up in all sensitive areas to avoid any untoward incident. The Chief Minister is also likely to return to West Bengal today as she has cancelled her scheduled meeting with Finance Minister P Chidambaram.
TMC chief Mamata Banerjee and the state’s Finance Minister Amit Mitra were heckled outside the Planning Commission office in the national capital by the SFI activists protesting a young comrade’s death in Kolkata allegedly in police custody.
Meanwhile, an FIR has also been registered against some SFI activists who were involved in attack over the Trinamool leaders. The SFI has also condemned the attack on the two senior TMC leaders and called for peace. The Left Front has demanded a probe into yesterday’s incident and demanded a judicial probe. The CPI-M has also called an emergency meeting to discuss the political situation.
Dozens of protestors from the SFI waited for the Trinamool Congress leaders outside the Planning Commission office and raised slogans against Mamata Banerjee when she came with Mitra and other ministers to meet the commission’s Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia.
Agitated students carrying placards pushed Mitra around and shouted slogans as he tried to enter the Planning Commission office, a stone’s throw from Parliament. In the melee, his white kurta was torn.
Banerjee later cancelled her scheduled meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, citing ill-health. Meanwhile, Mitra was Tuesday evening hospitalised at AIIMS after he complained of chest pain. He is said to be stable today.
The Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh also spoke to Mamata last night and expressed regret over the unfortunate incident.
The Chief Minister, who earlier was advised not to get down from her car and instead drive straight inside the complex, chose to walk through the agitators who were shouting “Mamata down, down”.
Banerjee was also accompanied by Panchayat Minister Subrata Mukherjee and Urban Development Minister Firhad Hakim. They too were allegedly pushed around.
When asked by reporters about the incident, Banerjee said, “These are hooligans…Left is playing dirty politics.” They can’t stop me. They can kill me. They can’t stop me from discussing development issues of the state,” a fuming Banerjee said to reporters.
SFI leader Ritabrata Banerjee said, “Our protest is to show Mamata Banerjee that Sudipto Gupta’s death was not a petty matter. People are deeply concerned about what is happening in West Bengal.”
Hours after the two TMC leaders were heckled by the SFI activists, the – CPM and SFI offices were targeted in West Bengal’s Habra. CPM’s district office in Siliguri was also vandalised, a former CPM leader’s car was ransacked in Sreerampore and a condolence meeting in Barrackpore for Sudipto Gupta, the 22-year-old activist who died last week, was disrupted.
Bureau Report
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