Several leaders and supporters of the BJP were detained by Kolkata Police on Thursday during an agitation to protest against the spike in dengue cases in the city. The BJP’s youth wing had called for protests at the Kolkata Municipal Corporation’s (KMC) headquarters over the rise in the incidence of the vector borne disease.
BJP leaders, including Asansol Dakshin MLA Agnimitra Paul, and councillors Sajal Ghosh and Meena Devi Purohit, were leading the protest rally. The protesters were stopped by the police. The BJP’s supporters sat on Kolkata’s Central Avenue, disrupting the traffic. They used mosquito nets and large cut-outs looking like mosquitoes to protest against the city’s civic body. Police personnel used force to remove BJP supporters from the streets. The protestors were later released by the police.
Demanding that the State government should come out with figures of the number of people affected by dengue, Ms. Paul said that while people were suffering from dengue, the State government was in a holiday mood. “If there are so many holidays, then how will the administration work? Mamata Banerjee has destroyed the working culture of the State,” Ms. Paul said.
The number of people affected by dengue in Kolkata and other parts of West Bengal has surpassed records for the past five years. According to reports, more 40,000 cases have been reported in the State and about 50 people have died. Kolkata and Siliguri alone have accounted for 30 deaths. The State government is yet to come out with official figures on the dengue outbreak and related deaths.
In another incident, the convoy of BJP MP and Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Nisith Pramanik was attacked in Coochbehar district. The local MP was visiting Sitai in the district to meet party leaders, who were allegedly attacked by supporters of the Trinamool Congress. Mr. Pramanik blamed Trinamool supporters for the violence said that those behind the attack would not be “showered with flower petals”.
