FIR against Mamata: TMC cries vendetta

The Trinamool Congress has strongly condemned the suo motu FIR filed by the Kolkata Police against former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee as an “unadulterated act of vendetta”, demanding immediate withdrawal of the same.

Launching a blistering attack on the BJP Government spokesperson of the pro-Mamata Banerjee camp of the TMC Kunal on Sunday said that Banerjee “continues to be the biggest crowd puller and the most charismatic leader of the State … which is why thousands of people gather at places whenever she comes out of her house … this very fact of her undiminishing popularity… the BJP leadership is unable to digest… this is the reason why the present Chief Minister (Suvendu Adhikari) has to make extra efforts to keep her indoors… this is anything but politics… this is political vendetta.”

Earlier, the Hastings Police Station in Kolkata had suo motu registered an FIR against the TMC chief for allegedly violating a Calcutta High Court order during the Trinamool Congress Chhatra Parishad foundation day rally on August 28. The Court had permitted Banerjee to hold the event occupying only one flank of the Cathedral Road, whereas both sides of the road were blocked during the rally, leading the police to register FIRs under Sections 61(2), 223, 125(a), 132 and 285 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

Senior party MLA and former minister Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay said that there were sometimes situations when it was not possible to control the crowd when a popular leader like Mamata Banerjee hit the street.

“We ensured that our men remained on one side of the road, but what will you tell those passersby who would stand on the other side to watch a leader speak… it is the job of the police to ensure that the other side is kept open… it was a lapse on the part of the police,” Chattopadhyay said.

Referring to the FIR filed against Banerjee’s senior State minister Agnimitra Paul on Sunday said that the Government would tolerate no violation of the High Court order, alleging the previous TMC Government regularly did so and had developed a habit of doing so which was continuing even after their fall.

Paul said, “No violation of the High Court’s order, whether by Mamata Banerjee or anyone else, will be tolerated. The previous government showed disrespect to the High Court when judges were repeatedly insulted… now, such things will not be tolerated… actions will be taken and taken promptly.”

Rejecting the BJP Government’s allegations, Banerjee herself said that the other side of the road was intentionally blocked by the saffron supporters so that she could be implicated and stopped from holding future rallies with High Court permission. “But even if we do not get permission from the police, we will simply walk by the road… I also want to see how many attackers they have to attack me,” she said.

Another leader questioned the timing of the FIR, wondering why FIRs were being lodged simultaneously against Mamata Banerjee for one reason and Abhishek Banerjee and Derek O’Brien for some other reason.

Incidentally, the police have issued summons to the two other leaders in connection with a different case where the twosome allegedly tried to stop on-duty police personnel from entering the Camac Street office of Abhishek Banerjee to remove some hoardings. A scuffle ensued and subsequently 13 TMC workers were arrested.

“Do you think that no democracy will prevail in Benga… they will bulldoze poor people’s houses, they will selectively provide Annapurna Bhandar to women (Rs 3000 scheme for eligible women), then they will send their goons to Jadavpur University and the police will simply look the other way… a wrong cannot continue for too long,” Mamata Banerjee had earlier said.

Meanwhile, in a parallel development, two days after Suvendu Adhikari ordered “cleansing” of the elite Jadavpur University campus, the university administration on Sunday whitewashed all the graffiti and slogans written by the Left-wing students’ units.

This came after the Chief Minister said, “We will tolerate no anti-national activity inside the campus… why don’t they write Azadi for PoK instead of Azadi for Palestine… we will not tolerate glorification of Maoist leader Kishenji … soon we will take cleansing action.”