People of West Bengal have rejected BJP’s bandh, says Trinamool leader Kunal Ghosh

Nandigram (West Bengal) [India], August 28 (ANI): Reacting to Bharatiya Janata Party’s call for a 12-hour ‘Bengal Bandh’ on Wednesday, Trinamool Congress leader Kunal Ghosh said that the people of West Bengal have rejected the “drama of anarchy.”

A 12-hour ‘Bengal Bandh’ has been called by the BJP to protest against the state government after the police used lathi charge and tear gas on protestors yesterday during the ‘Nabanna Abhiyan’ protest rally in Kolkata yesterday.

He termed the bandh as a “failed attempt” to create unrest in the State stating that everything is normal.

Ghosh said, “We all want justice in the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital rape-murder case. Mamata Banerjee also wants justice. The case is now in CBI’s hands. One accused has been arrested…now the CBI is investigating the matter…They (BJP) are trying to create anarchy here, yesterday they attacked the police and today they have called this bandh. Everything is normal in Bengal. The people of West Bengal have rejected BJP’s bandh.”

He further said that the industrial belt was working normally and more than 82 per cent of work was going on in the morning shift.

“Shops are opened. tea garden employees are working, IT sector has 100 per cent attendance, and transport is functioning. They are trying to stop the trains but we also want the justice which should be given by CBI. The people of Bengal have rejected the drama of anarchy by the BJP,” he added.

West Bengal Leader of Opposition and BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari joined the BJP protest today.

Meanwhile, authorities have tightened security in Kolkata in the wake of Bandh call by the BJP in protest against the alleged police crackdown during the ‘Nabanna Abhijan’ protest rally yesterday.

Dendup Sherpa, Additional Superintendent of Police (SP), Uttar Dinajpur, a district in West Bengal, told ANI, “Police personnel are deployed everywhere to maintain Law and Order in the state.”

Anticipating violence, the administration has instructed drivers and conductors of the government buses in Kolkata to wear helmets.

Following instruction from the administration, the drivers of North Bengal State Transport Corporation (NBSTC) buses were seen wearing helmets, in Cooch Behar.

On August 27, chaos broke out in the streets of Kolkata as security personnel lobbed tear gas shells, used water cannons and resorted to lathicharge to disperse protestors on the Howrah Bridge marching towards the West Bengal State Secretariat Nabanna, amidst the row over the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital rape-murder case.

Protestors gathered at the Howrah Bridge, climbing atop police barricades and clashed with police personnel during the ‘Nabanna Abhijan’ protest march. They were seen breaking and dragging away the barricades that were erected in the Santragachi area, en route to the Secretariat.

The Trinamool Congress (TMC) blamed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), alleging that the party had orchestrated the chaos.

The murder and alleged sexual assault of a female trainee doctor on August 9 at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9 caused national outrage and many rallies have been held in different states of the country.