Mamata Banerjee sit-in protest: TMC dharna goes ahead despite no permission; central Kolkata traffic

Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee went ahead with her party’s planned sit-in demonstration in central Kolkata on Tuesday despite the police denying permission for the protest, declaring she was ready to be arrested if stopped. Traffic in parts of central Kolkata came to a halt as the former Chief Minister took to the streets for the first time since her party’s landslide defeat in the West Bengal Assembly elections.

The protest, held at the Y-channel in central Kolkata from 2 PM to 4 PM, centred on two issues: the demolition of illegal buildings in the city and the eviction of hawkers encroaching on railway lands without a rehabilitation plan. Banerjee alleged that small traders and common people were living in fear while the ruling BJP was using money and power to engineer defections within TMC ranks.

“If we are not allowed to hold a dharna there, I will sit wherever I am stopped. I am ready to be arrested,” Banerjee said, announcing the protest would go ahead regardless of official permission.

The former Chief Minister also alleged that 12 TMC workers had been killed since the Assembly elections, thousands of party activists had been arrested, and many others had been forced to flee their homes. She dismissed the recent departures of leaders from the party as driven by personal interests and asserted that TMC would emerge stronger from the ongoing internal crisis.

Internal turbulence deepens

The sit-in came against the backdrop of significant internal turbulence within TMC. Two party MLAs, Sandipan Saha from Entally and Ritabrata Banerjee from Uluberia Purba, were expelled on Monday on charges of anti-party activities after they informed Assembly Speaker Rathindra Bose about alleged signature mismatches in a communication endorsing Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay’s selection as Leader of Opposition. Since their expulsion, both have been active in mobilising fellow TMC legislators, including veteran four-time MLAs Javed Ahmed Khan from Kasba and Seuli Saha from Keshpur, who met the expelled legislators at the MLA hostel on Kyd Street late Monday night. As expelled party members rather than expelled legislators, Sandipan and Ritabrata can continue serving as MLAs for their full five-year term, with the Anti-Defection Law not applicable to them. TMC currently holds 80 seats in the 294-seat West Bengal Assembly.

CID serves fresh notice to Abhishek Banerjee

CID sleuths visited TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee’s residence on Monday evening for the second time in 48 hours in connection with the signature forgery case, serving him a fresh notice directing him to appear at CID headquarters, Bhabani Bhavan, on June 8 for questioning over the alleged use of fake signatures of party MLAs in the communication to the Assembly Speaker.

West Bengal cabinet expands

Meanwhile, West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari expanded his cabinet on Monday, with 35 legislators taking oath as ministers to take the total council of ministers strength to 41. BJP MLAs Swapan Dasgupta, Tapas Roy, and Shankar Ghosh were among those sworn in, with 13 inducted as cabinet ministers, three as ministers of state with independent charge, and 19 as ministers of state. Portfolio distribution is scheduled for Wednesday at a meeting chaired by the Chief Minister at the state secretariat.