Mamata Banerjee's anti-SIR protest yet another drama to protect infiltrators: BJP

Kolkata, March 7 (IANS) The BJP alleged on Saturday that West Bengal Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee's indefinite anti-Special Intensive Revision (SIR) sit-in protest in Kolkata that started from Friday afternoon is yet another ploy to protect the illegal infiltrators in the voters’ list of the state.

Although the Trinamool Congress leadership, led by the Chief Minister, began the sit-in protest on Friday afternoon at Esplanade East in central Kolkata, it has not given any indication of how long the protest will continue. However, considering the size of the protest dais and the arrangements made there, it seems that the protest programme will continue for some time.

“Yesterday, in the presence of Mamata Banerjee at Dharmatala, a play was staged to save illegal infiltrators,” claimed the Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, in a statement issued through his official social media handle on Saturday morning.

In his statement, the LoP had also pointed out the approach of the state’s ruling party towards the victims of the multi-crore cash-for-school job case in the state when the latter went near the Chief Minister’s sit-in protest demonstration dais to voice their genuine demands on the school-job fiasco.

“But when the deprived assistant teachers of West Bengal went in front of that play's stage to protest for their just demands, instead of listening to them, they were told, ‘You're doing all this because of what the BJP says’. They were even sarcastically told about the posters in their hands, ‘Go show these to Narendra Modi, Amit Shah, and the Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar’. Even the fourth pillar of democracy, the media, was labeled as the BJP's agents,” claimed the LoP.

Referring to that incident, Adhikari had also raised the question of whether people of West Bengal had the right to air their legitimate demands.

“Is there not even a shred of right for anyone to protest? As soon as they protest, the protesters become agents of someone or the other. Will the voices of the deprived assistant teachers be suppressed like this year after year?” he questioned.

According to him, since the people of West Bengal are watching and understanding everything, they will give a fitting reply to the state’s ruling party at the right time.

“To answer injustice and deprivation, they must say - 'We need a change, we want a BJP government',” he said.