By Nishant Singh
Kolkata: Three workers of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have been arrested after a complaint was registered at New Market Police Station against them for raising incendiary ‘desh ke ghaddaron ko…’ slogans in Esplanade area in Kolkata.
The BJP workers shouted the slogan while they were passing the Maidan Market in Esplanade on their way to a rally of Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday. However, the West Bengal BJP has denied the involvement of any party worker in the incident and termed it as the “handiwork of the TMC (Trinamool Congress)”.
According to a PTI report, the BJP supporters, who were shouting slogans, came close to the Congress and Left Front members who chanted “Go Back Amit Shah”, but a showdown was averted after police personnel posted nearby intervened and took control of the situation.
Commenting on the incident, state BJP vice-president Subhas Sarkar said no party worker was involved in the sloganeering. “It was a mega rally in Kolkata. We feel that it was the handiwork of the TMC to malign our party,” he said.
Senior CPI(M) leader Mohammed Salim slammed Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee over the incident and accused the police of not taking action against those who were sloganeering.
“They (the BJP) are trying to vitiate the atmosphere of West Bengal. We had heard the ‘goli maro’ slogan in Delhi. Now, thanks to the Mamata Banerjee government and her police, who were mere spectators, we saw them shouting it here,” PTI quoted Salim as saying.
Congress slams Mamata Banerjee
Condemning the incident, the Congress party lashed out at West Bengal chief minister and accused her of supporting the BJP. Leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said police inaction shows that these acts are supported by the state government.
“The BJP is trying to bring in a new culture to Bengal. This is not our culture. Whatever has happened today in Kolkata is deplorable. Mamata Banerjee has brought Shah to the city by allowing the BJP to hold the rally. And the police inaction shows that the state government has helped them,” Chowdhury said.
TMC to raise ‘goli maro’ in Parliament
The ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) is likely to raise the issue of ‘goli maro’ slogan in the Parliament today after BJP workers raised ‘desh ke ghaddaron ko…’ slogans during Amit Shah’s rally in Kolkata. The TMC along with other parties, has given Adjournment Motion Notice in Lok Sabha, over violence in Delhi.
There has been a controversy over the raising of such slogans in BJP rallies during Delhi polls and demonstrations in favour of the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) due to allegations that they provoke violence.
This story first appeared on timesnownews.com