Kolkata:
Mamata Banerjee’s return to her trademark streetfighter avatar on Friday was marked by a resounding slap she delivered to a Trinamool Congress member in Kolkata.
The Trinamool Congress workers hit the street on Wednesday with a protest march against the rape and murder of an 11-year-old girl in Baruipur.
The rally, however, was obstructed, reportedly by BJP workers.
The procession was regularly interrupted by jostling, pushing, and shoving between workers of the two parties. Security forces were forced to intervene with a baton charge.
The BJP workers even formed a human shield to stop the rally from advancing and raised slogans like “chor, chor (thief)”.
Some of the Trinamool workers still loyal to Banerjee endured eggs being thrown at them.
A large crowd gathered outside Mamata Banerjee’s house as the rally neared its end. She stepped forward to disperse the crowd, and in the process, she slapped the man, a member of her own party. She also pushed others around.
The BJP workers had protested against the rally because they claimed the party had no right as it “shielded criminals perpetrating crimes against women, shamed victims”.
Mamata Banerjee vs BJP
Mamata Banerjee has accused the BJP of carrying out what she called a “planned rampage”. She also accused the city police of standing as “mute spectators”.
“We had the court’s permission to conduct this rally. Even then, they assaulted our women. Many of our workers are bleeding badly, and I had to come out of my house to rescue them. They took out a bike rally in the morning near my residence and threatened me. They kept playing DJs all through the rally route and even snatched our hand mics for which we had the court’s leave,” she alleged.
“Police are acting like BJP cadres; I am sorry to say,” she alleged.
BJP state president Samik Bhattacharya dismissed her allegations.
“Mamata Banerjee is a veteran political worker who loves to walk on the streets. We have not obstructed her from doing that. But the TMC betrayed the trust people put in the party 15 years ago. They did not allow the violent political culture in the state to change,” he was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
The Kolkata police had denied permission to hold the rally. The high court, however, set aside the order. It changed the proposed route of the rally to “minimise the inconvenience of the people at large”.
