City roads were choked from afternoon till evening as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) took out separate rallies in Kolkata on Tuesday against the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC)-led State government. This comes after a day after the AITC held two public meetings in West Bengal on Monday.
The BJP convened an ‘apolitical’ rally, which was participated by intellectuals and television artists, from College Square in central Kolkata till Esplanade. Stating that the law and order situation in the State was in a deplorable condition, those participating in the rally demanded that peace be restored in the State. The rally was meant to act as a counter to a similar rally by the AITC held last week.
BJP State president Rahul Sinha had appealed to poet Shankha Ghosh to participate in the rally, which the poet turned down on Monday. Although there were no party flags and banners, the rally was led by journalist and BJP national spokesperson M.J. Akbar, actor George Baker and magician P.C. Sorcar, both of whom unsuccessfully contested the Lok Sabha polls on a BJP ticket in the State. Mr. Sinha did not attend the rally.
Stating that the people of Bengal felt betrayed by the AITC government, Mr. Akbar said a change was needed again in Bengal.
“For 34 years, Bengal had a lal salaam [Left Front] government. Now they have a scandal salaam [AITC] government. People had sought change but have only been looted,” Mr. Akbar said.
‘Interrogate Mamata’
The Kolkata district committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) took out a rally from Esplanade till College Square to protest against the alleged involvement of the AITC leaders in the multi-crore Ponzi Saradha scheme scam.
“To return the savings of duped investors in the Saradha scam, the Central Bureau of Investigation must interrogate Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and, if necessary, arrest her to reveal the truth about the scam,” said CPI (M) State secretary Biman Basu.
Although former Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee was present at the beginning of the procession, he left the venue without addressing the gathering.
