’60 BJP-backed goons damaged our stage’: Mamata Banerjee alleges bid to sabotage Trinamool’s Martyrs’ Day rally

Former West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday accused the BJP and the state administration of trying to sabotage her faction’s Martyrs’ Day rally in Kolkata, alleging vandalism at the venue and attempts to prevent supporters from reaching the gathering.

Her allegations came as Kolkata Police mounted extensive security arrangements for three parallel July 21 rallies being held within a short distance of one another in central Kolkata.

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Banerjee’s faction of the Trinamool Congress is holding its programme outside the Birla Planetarium, while a rival Trinamool faction led by expelled legislator Ritabrata Banerjee has organised a gathering on Jawaharlal Nehru Road. The West Bengal Congress is holding a separate rally near Shahid Minar.

Mamata alleges attack on rally arrangements

Banerjee claimed that BJP activists attempted to damage the stage erected outside the Birla Planetarium on Monday night.

She said she rushed to the venue with Trinamool Congress general secretary Abhishek Banerjee and other leaders after being informed about the alleged vandalism. Party leaders then took turns guarding the stage overnight, she claimed.

“Our supporters are being prevented from coming to the meeting. The police are threatening the families of the martyrs not to come to the meeting,” Banerjee said.

She alleged that the stage had been damaged, electricity and microphone connections disconnected, and posters and banners torn.

“Around 60 BJP-backed goons did all these,” she claimed, alleging a coordinated attempt by the BJP and the police to disrupt the programme.

Mamata threatens contempt proceedings

Banerjee said her faction was holding the rally outside the Birla Planetarium in accordance with an order of the Calcutta High Court.

She accused the police administration of violating the court’s directions and threatened legal action if the alleged interference continued.

“Do not play with the law of the land. If you continue to do that, we will file a contempt of court petition against the state government and the police administration,” she said.

Congress reports attacks on supporters

The West Bengal Congress also alleged that its supporters were being prevented from travelling to Kolkata for its parallel Martyrs’ Day rally near Shahid Minar.

State Congress president Subhankar Sarkar claimed that BJP workers vandalised a bus carrying party supporters from Durgapur in West Burdwan district.

He alleged that another attack was reported from Potashpur in East Midnapore district.

Three rallies under heavy security

Kolkata Police deployed around 1,000 personnel at each of the three rally venues, according to the agency report.

Drone surveillance is being used, while personnel from the Rapid Action Force, Heavy Radio Flying Squad and Central Armed Police Forces have also been stationed in the area.

At least five deputy commissioners, including officers heading the Central and South divisions, are overseeing the arrangements.

The simultaneous rallies are expected to draw large crowds to central Kolkata and could affect traffic movement around the Birla Planetarium, Jawaharlal Nehru Road, Esplanade and Shahid Minar.

Rival groups stake claim to July 21 legacy

The rallies commemorate the Youth Congress workers killed in police firing during a protest in Kolkata on July 21, 1993, when the Left Front government led by Jyoti Basu was in power.

Mamata Banerjee, then the state Youth Congress president and a Lok Sabha member, had led the protest.

The Congress maintains that it has the principal claim to the observance because the victims were Youth Congress workers and the firing occurred before the Trinamool Congress was formed.

A separate programme is also being held at Rajghat in New Delhi by former Trinamool Congress MPs who recently joined the Nationalist Citizens Party of India.