‘Black day for democracy’: TMC after leaders ‘dragged, manhandled’, detained

“Today is a black day for Indian democracy,” Trinamool Congress general secretary Abhishek Banerjee said as he and other party leaders were released by the police on Tuesday (October 3) night, some three hours after being detained during a sit-in at the Union Rural Development Ministry office in Delhi.

In a post on X (Twitter), TMC president and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee wrote: “Today is a dark, sinister day for democracy, a day when @BJP4India revealed their disdain for the people of Bengal, their disregard for the rights of the poor and a complete abandonment of democratic values.”

She added: “First, they callously withheld crucial funds meant for the poor of Bengal and when our delegation arrived in Delhi, determined to peacefully protest and draw attention to the plight of our people, they were met with brutality - first at Rajghat and then at Krishi Bhavan.”

Mamata Banerjee said Delhi Police acted as the “BJP’s strong-arm” and “shamelessly manhandled” TMC leaders. “... our representatives... were forcibly removed and whisked away in police vans like common criminals, all because they dared to speak truth to power. Their (BJP’s) arrogance knows no bounds and their pride and egotism have blinded them. They have now crossed all limits to repress the voice of Bengal,” she said.

“Dragged and manhandled”

Abhishek said Tuesday’s incident will stand as an example of “New India” as public representatives were “dragged and manhandled” by Delhi Police and journalists questioning the government were booked under the anti-terror law UAPA.

The development came as the tug-of-war between the Centre and the West Bengal government over the release of funds to the state intensified, with the TMC holding protests in the national capital for the second consecutive day.

Abhishek, along with party lawmakers, state ministers, and supporters, including MGNREGA workers, protested at Jantar Mantar in Delhi, a day after they held a two-hour sit-in at the Rajghat on Mahatma Gandhi’s birth anniversary before being evicted by the police.

They later took out a march to the Rural Development Ministry at the Krishi Bhawan, where they had an appointment with Minister of State Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti.

However, around an hour and a half after going to the Bhawan, TMC leaders claimed that the MoS refused to meet them saying she would not meet more than five representatives. The TMC leaders, who had brought with them bundles of letters addressed to the prime minister and the rural development minister, refused to leave till the MoS met them.

Led by Banerjee, a group of TMC leaders sat on a dharna, which continued till around 9 pm, after which they were detained by the police and evicted from the ministry premises. The TMC claimed that the phones of some leaders were also taken by the police.

“Minister left through back door”

Abhishek said around 40 people, including TMC leaders and government scheme beneficiaries, had gone to meet Minister of State for Rural Development Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti, but she did not meet them.

The TMC MP from West Bengal’s Diamond Harbour claimed that the minister had agreed to meet them at 6 pm. “She met BJP leaders and made us wait. At 8.30 pm, she left through the back door,” he said, adding that the Centre should provide “papers” related to the scam they have alleged.

“You (BJP) are snatching away the rights of the people of Bengal because you lost in the state. BJP has lost all elections in Bengal, that is why they have stopped the money of the people,” he said addressing the media soon after being released from detention.

Abhishek accused the Delhi Police of manhandling elected representatives, including women. “The way Delhi Police officials behaved today... MPs were pulled by their hair and dragged out. An MP is elected by lakhs of people. BJP’s zamindar in Raj Bhavan is nominated. Dragging and manhandling them... Mahua Moitra, Dola Sen, the way they were grabbed by their hands and legs and dragged into police vans, people will reply to it,” he said.

“Worse than British”

Challenging the BJP, Abhishek said, “In the next six months, people will teach you a lesson. People of the country will exercise their power and today’s event will remain a black day. Even the British did not behave so badly as the Delhi Police did today.”

He added, “Journalists are being booked under different sections, public representatives are being manhandled, corrupt people are being inducted and their sins are being washed away and the rapists of Bilkis Bano are being honoured.”

The TMC general secretary also announced a “Raj Bhavan Chalo” march in Kolkata on October 5. “The BJP leaders who talk big about democracy are silent today. We will take the 50 lakh letters to Raj Bhavan along with us. The governor will have to answer us now. We want an answer for each and every letter,” Abhishek added.

“There are 70,000 elected representatives from Trinamool in Bengal. We will forego a month’s salary and ensure that these 2,500 people get their money before November 30. I promise you that these people will get their money within two months,” he said.

Lok Sabha MP from Krishnanagar, Mahua Moitra, alleged the Centre was collecting taxes from West Bengal, but not giving the state’s dues. “We have not come here to beg but for our rights... Mamata Banerjee is fighting not only for Bengal but for the people of the entire country,” the firebrand leader said.

Posting a video of how they were treated, she wrote on X, “This is how elected MPs of the world’s largest democracy are treated after being given an appointment to meet with a Minister of the Govt of India (which she refused to honour after making us wait 3 hours). Shame @narendramodi shame @AmitShah.”

The ruling TMC in West Bengal has accused the BJP-led NDA government of withholding Rs 15,000 crore in dues to the state under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) and the PM Awas Yojana.

The BJP has rejected the charge and accused the TMC of doing a “drama” in Delhi to divert attention from the scams in West Bengal.

(With agency inputs)