With the BJP trying to grow in the State by making Wednesday’s dawn-to-dusk Bengal bandh a success, the ruling Trinamool Congress leadership on Tuesday made it clear that “no bandh will be tolerated” directing all the Government concerns to ensure hundred percent attendance and cancelling all leaves for the day.
“All the Government staff are hereby directed to join work on Wednesday failing which a day’s salary will be deducted,” State Education Minister Partho Chatterjee who was handling the affairs in absence of Banerjee, presently in Milan attending a business meet said while senior secretariat officials also warned absence from office on Wednesday could also cause a breakage in service.
“We will take the bandh as seriously as the ones earlier called by the CPI(M) only to be foiled by a determined approach of the Chief Minister,” another senior Minister Firhad Hakim said even as the police on Tuesdsay lathi-charged the ABVP supporters who were trying to blockade road at busy Esplanade crossing.
Twelve ABVP supporters were arrested following a brief jostling with the police and a lathi-cvharge even as BJP State president told a gathering at Hemtabad that “any effort to thwart the bandh with State power and brute force of the Trinamool goons will be responded to strongly by the people in general. They will get a taste of BJP’s strength tomorrow.”
The State Government would be held responsible for any untoward incidence happening on Wednesday because “it is TMC’s arrogance that they are trying to foil a natural bandh,” Ghosh maintained.
The BJP earlier called a 12-hour bandh to protest against the death of two students in an alleged police firing at an Islampur school in North Dinajpur district of North Bengal.
Agitating students of Darbhit High School had allegedly clashed with the police when they were stopped from engaging in a brcdikbating while they were protesting the appointment of Urdu and Sanskrit teachers instead of Bengali, History, Maths and other teachers required. Subsequently two students received gunshots and were killed.
The locals and the BJP claim the police fired at the students while the Government have denied the allegation.
“Our workers will be on the streets alongside the police so that no disturbance takes place,” Hakim said adding “opur boys can smash the BJP workers like ants but we won’t do that as Mamata Banerjee believes in deep-rooted democracy.”
The Chief Minister had already told from Milan that the BJP was trying to provide a communal twist to the whole affair and asked the people to “remain alert about their dirty tactic.”
Chatterjee said all the offices, educational institutions will remain open on Wednesday. Transport Minister Suvendu Adhikary said public transport would function normally and ensured Rs 75,000 insurance for partly damaged vehicles and Rs 5 lakh for fully damaged vehicles in the bandh.
Each Minister had been given the charge of ensuring normalcy in one’s constituency before joining a Cabinet meeting late in the noon to take stock of the situation, sources said.