Mamata vs CBI: West Bengal’s ruling party Trinamool Congress and the BJP have been at loggerheads for the last two days over CBI’s action against Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar. TMC supremo and state Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has been on a dharna ever since CBI officials visited Rajeev Kumar’s residence for questioning in the chit funds scam. Mamata has alleged that the Modi government is out to destroy democracy and is misusing institutions to silence Opposition leaders.
On Monday, Banerjee claimed she was getting support from across the country and that her demonstration might continue till February 8. Interestingly, on February 8, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will also be in the state where he is slated to address a public meeting in Siliguri.
Banerjee, who is flanked by her senior ministers and top Trinamool Congress leaders, had on Sunday skipped dinner and stayed up the entire night on a makeshift dais in the Dharamtala area, near the Metro Y Channel. Next morning, scores of TMC workers gathered at the site to extend their support. TMC workers also took out rallies in Kolkata with posters depicting Prime Minister Narendra Modi as German dictator Adolf Hitler. The captions on posters read: ‘Modi Bharat chhodo (Modi leave the country)’.
If reports are to go by, the TMC workers also vandalised the BJP’s office in Kolkata’s Bhowanipore on Monday evening. Meanwhile, Mamata Banerjee continues her protest against the CBI action near Metro Y Channel on Tuesday.
The issue also echoed in the Parliament on Monday with opposition benches raising slogans like ‘CBI tota hai (CBI is a parrot’, ‘chowkidar chor hai (the guard is a thief)’. The government, on its part, said that whatever happened on Sunday indicates a constitutional breakdown and sought a report from Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi.
Reacting to the development, the BJP on Monday came down heavily on Mamata over her sit-in saying she is following the footsteps of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. “What is happening? A Police Commissioner is sitting on a dharna with politicians? What is the meaning of this? By sitting on dharna West Bengal CM is following the footsteps of Arvind Kejriwal,” BJP leader and Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad told reporters.