Mamata backs Opposition protest, calls Delhi police action against NEET protesters unacceptable
Mamata Banerjee backed the Opposition's Delhi sit-in over the alleged NEET paper leak and police action on students. She said the crackdown was unacceptable and framed it as part of a wider BJP pattern of intimidation.
Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday night termed the police action against protests in Delhi over the alleged NEET paper leak "unacceptable" and said her party fully supports the Opposition's sit-in demonstration in the national capital.
Earlier in the day, Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and several other senior leaders staged a dharna outside the prime minister's residence in Delhi, demanding the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the police action against students protesting the alleged paper leak.
In a social media post, Banerjee said, "The police atrocities on our youth in Delhi is unacceptable. Shame on the Union government. The All India Trinamool Congress fully supports the sit-down protest by the Opposition today near Akbar Road. Our full solidarity."
She also alleged police excesses and disruption in Kolkata ahead of the TMC's Martyrs' Day programme. "There were also police atrocities in Kolkata all through last night. BJP goons did all they could to disrupt preparations for our Martyrs' Day programme. They arrived on motorcycle squads, destroyed signage, vandalised the stage and deliberately cut microphone wires. Many youth were threatened and injured by these goons," she said.
Banerjee, the former chief minister of West Bengal, said the programme was held despite the alleged disruption, with TMC workers from across the state taking part. She added, "We pledge to unitedly fight the atrocities and dictatorial attitude of the BJP. We will take our fight from Bengal to India. United we stand." TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee also criticised the "treatment meted out" to Gandhi. In a post, the Diamond Harbour MP said, "In a parliamentary democracy, the Opposition is not an adversary of the State but an indispensable constitutional institution. Respect for constitutional offices cannot be selective, nor can accountability be met with intimidation."
Banerjee's remarks came as the Opposition stepped up its protest in Delhi over the alleged NEET paper leak and the police action on students, while the TMC linked the issue with its own allegations of disruption and intimidation in Kolkata.
Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday night termed the police action against protests in Delhi over the alleged NEET paper leak "unacceptable" and said her party fully supports the Opposition's sit-in demonstration in the national capital.
Earlier in the day, Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and several other senior leaders staged a dharna outside the prime minister's residence in Delhi, demanding the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the police action against students protesting the alleged paper leak.
In a social media post, Banerjee said, "The police atrocities on our youth in Delhi is unacceptable. Shame on the Union government. The All India Trinamool Congress fully supports the sit-down protest by the Opposition today near Akbar Road. Our full solidarity."
She also alleged police excesses and disruption in Kolkata ahead of the TMC's Martyrs' Day programme. "There were also police atrocities in Kolkata all through last night. BJP goons did all they could to disrupt preparations for our Martyrs' Day programme. They arrived on motorcycle squads, destroyed signage, vandalised the stage and deliberately cut microphone wires. Many youth were threatened and injured by these goons," she said.
Banerjee, the former chief minister of West Bengal, said the programme was held despite the alleged disruption, with TMC workers from across the state taking part. She added, "We pledge to unitedly fight the atrocities and dictatorial attitude of the BJP. We will take our fight from Bengal to India. United we stand." TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee also criticised the "treatment meted out" to Gandhi. In a post, the Diamond Harbour MP said, "In a parliamentary democracy, the Opposition is not an adversary of the State but an indispensable constitutional institution. Respect for constitutional offices cannot be selective, nor can accountability be met with intimidation."
Banerjee's remarks came as the Opposition stepped up its protest in Delhi over the alleged NEET paper leak and the police action on students, while the TMC linked the issue with its own allegations of disruption and intimidation in Kolkata.
Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday night termed the police action against protests in Delhi over the alleged NEET paper leak "unacceptable" and said her party fully supports the Opposition's sit-in demonstration in the national capital.
Earlier in the day, Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and several other senior leaders staged a dharna outside the prime minister's residence in Delhi, demanding the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the police action against students protesting the alleged paper leak.
In a social media post, Banerjee said, "The police atrocities on our youth in Delhi is unacceptable. Shame on the Union government. The All India Trinamool Congress fully supports the sit-down protest by the Opposition today near Akbar Road. Our full solidarity."
She also alleged police excesses and disruption in Kolkata ahead of the TMC's Martyrs' Day programme. "There were also police atrocities in Kolkata all through last night. BJP goons did all they could to disrupt preparations for our Martyrs' Day programme. They arrived on motorcycle squads, destroyed signage, vandalised the stage and deliberately cut microphone wires. Many youth were threatened and injured by these goons," she said.
Banerjee, the former chief minister of West Bengal, said the programme was held despite the alleged disruption, with TMC workers from across the state taking part. She added, "We pledge to unitedly fight the atrocities and dictatorial attitude of the BJP. We will take our fight from Bengal to India. United we stand." TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee also criticised the "treatment meted out" to Gandhi. In a post, the Diamond Harbour MP said, "In a parliamentary democracy, the Opposition is not an adversary of the State but an indispensable constitutional institution. Respect for constitutional offices cannot be selective, nor can accountability be met with intimidation."
Banerjee's remarks came as the Opposition stepped up its protest in Delhi over the alleged NEET paper leak and the police action on students, while the TMC linked the issue with its own allegations of disruption and intimidation in Kolkata.
