Kolkata rape-murder | Was BJP planning a 1993-like bloody march? Mamata govt thinks so

Is the BJP planning to create a July 21, 1993-like situation on August 27? The answer is yes if two video clips — the authenticity of which are not independently verified by The Federal — released by the Trinamool Congress on Monday are to be believed.

So what happened 31 years ago? At least 13 people were killed when police opened fire at a Youth Congress rally under Mamata Banerjee at Kolkata on that ill-fated day.

In both the videos, unidentified persons are allegedly heard saying that the Nabanna Abhiyan (march to Nabanna, the state secretariat) on Tuesday demanding resignation of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee would be violent and bullets would be fired. They insisted that the movement would achieve nothing and would lose steam if no one died during the march. The planned siege is in protest against the

brutal rape and murder of a doctor at a Kolkata hospital.

Two BJP leaders, identified as Babul Ganguly and Soumen Chatterjee, were arrested by the police after the videos surfaced. The police claimed the duo were the persons seen in the videos.

“We are questioning the two BJP leaders to find out their plans about the march,” said West Medinipur superintendent of police Dhritiman Sarkar.

The BJP denied the allegation, stating that it was a ploy to malign the party. “The police, at the behest of the TMC, have implicated two of our leaders to run a smear campaign against the party and Tuesday’s apolitical rally,” claimed BJP’s Ghatal MLA Sital Kapat.

BJP’s state spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya said the allegations against BJP were manifestation of the TMC’s frustration and concern over the growing momentum of the stir against the Mamata government’s handling of the rape and murder of a female doctor at the state-run R G Kar Medical College and Hospital.

The BJP’s intention behind the march came under the scanner, not just because of the two contentious videos posted by the TMC.

The march is convened by an unknown entity called Paschim Banga Chhatra Samaj (West Bengal Students’ Society) claimed to have formed around 10 days ago. Sayan Lahiri, a leader of the outfit, claimed that it was an apolitical organisation and that the rally would not be organised under the banner of any political party.

But a background check reveals Lahiri’s close links with the BJP. TMC and the Left-leaning leaders have shared on Facebook and X pictures of Lahiri attending BJP programmes.

Without naming anyone, police too expressed doubt about the apolitical credential of the so-called student leaders and their actual motive over Tuesday's abhiyan.

Additional Director General of Police (South Bengal) Supratim Sarkar told newsmen that one of the organisers met with a top politician at a city hotel. He, however, did not disclose any name saying the police would apprise the court of the development.

Police also claimed to have intelligence input about the protestors' intention of creating trouble during the rally by provoking law enforcers. The police denied permission for the rally and declared it illegal.

Student organizations allied with the Left parties have already distanced themselves from the march, citing the BJP connection.

Claiming that the organisation used her name to garner support for the rally, state secretary of the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) Minakshi Mukherjee slammed the BJP for politicising the emotion of the students over the RG Kar incident.

“It is very unethical on the part of the organiser to use my name for their programme. No organisation of our party is connected with this rally. Student community will not fall into the trap of the RSS-ABVP,” she added.

The state Congress has also decided not to participate in the programme, though its leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury had earlier said he would.

BJP leaders Sukanta Mazumdar and Suvendu Adhikari extended the BJP’s support for the rally, but insisted that the party is not organising the programme.

That the BJP is doing the mobilisation for the programme is an open secret and many BJP leaders, including Adhikari, might even attend the march.

Stating that he would join the march in his individual capacity, Adhikari recently cautioned that the TMC government would be responsible if bullets are fired during the programme. He, however, did not elaborate on his statement.

The background of the organisers and the proactive role of the BJP leaders leaves no room for doubt that the saffron brigade is the real force behind the protest call.

The reluctance of the BJP and its associates to organise the programme directly under its banner is a strategic move, say political observers.

From the very beginning, Adhikari made it clear that the march would be a no-holds-barred agitation to scale up the movement against the Mamata Banerjee government. He even hinted about use of force, if need be.

However, the party was not very sure whether it had the wherewithal to do so on its own.

BJP sources said Adhikari and Mazumdar were not on the same page on organising the march directly by the party.

Mazumdar insisted the call for the march should be apolitical.

“It’s primarily because the separate marches to Swasthya Bhawan – the headquarters of the state health department in Salt Lake — organised by the BJP and the ABVP last week were lacklustre. This despite the BJP putting up a united front for the first time ever since it got a humiliating drubbing at the 2021 assembly elections,” said political commentator and author Amal Sarkar.

Setting aside their differences, party’s three top leaders Adhikari, Mazumdar and former president Dilip Ghosh were seen marching together, a rare scene in the state BJP these days.