The leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, Ritabrata Banerjee, on Friday called a protest led by BJP leader Priyanka Tibrewal outside the residence of expelled Trinamool leader Sandipan Saha “shameful”, “uncalled for”, and an assault on democracy.
Speaking to the media after visiting Saha’s residence, Banerjee questioned the legitimacy of the agitation and said a formal police complaint had been lodged at the New Market police station.
Banerjee pointed out that Saha’s residence fell in the Chowringhee constituency, whereas Tibrewal was the BJP’s candidate for the neighbouring Entally seat from where Saha won.
The demonstration was held in front of Saha’s residence on Thursday. The protest took an ugly turn when Sandipan’s father, former Trinamool MLA Swarnakamal Saha, became involved in a heated exchange with Tibrewal and allegedly hurled verbal abuse at the BJP leader.
Leading a large contingent of BJP workers and supporters armed with placards and banners, Tibrewal accused the father-son duo of leveraging their political influence to run a network of corruption, extortion and syndicate operations in the Entally area.
“There is no escape anymore. Sandipan Saha and his father must answer to the people of Entally. After years of theft, robbery and injustice, the public is now demanding accountability,” Tibrewal had said.
Attacking Tibrewal, the leader of the Opposition said the crowd was not demonstrating genuine public outrage and consisted of outsiders brought in specifically to orchestrate unrest. He urged the state government to scan CCTV footage to identify and penalise the agitators.
“This was not an ideal scene for democracy,” Banerjee said, questioning whether Tibrewal organised the unruly scene in her individual capacity or as a responsible
political figure.
He added that he did not believe chief minister Suvendu Adhikari or BJP state president Samik Bhattacharya supported such lawless behaviour.
“The protest was shameful and uncalled for,” said Banerjee.
While expressing faith in the state administration to act swiftly on Sandipan’s complaint, Banerjee said if necessary legal action was not taken, future steps would be decided after consulting with their legislative party.