After a nearly four-hour long protest in front of the North Block, which houses the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) here, the Trinamool Congress MPs met Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday, to flag the reported violence against their party workers in Tripura.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee also reached Delhi for a four-day visit.
A17-member TMC delegation reached the North Block at 11:30 a.m. to meet Mr Shah. When they were told that he was not available for a meeting, they staged a sit-down protest. At 4:00 p.m., Mr. Shah finally met the delegation.
Charge against BJP
The party has accused the BJP of orchestrating the attacks in Tripura and alleged that the police were sheltering the perpetrators from the ruling party.
TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, who reached Agartala on Monday, has been denied permission to hold a rally by the police, who cited law and order situation and political violence as the reason.
Civic elections in the State are scheduled for November 25.
Spate of attacks across Agartala; women’s police station attacked
TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee told the reporters after the meeting with Mr. Shah, “We told him in detail how leaders were arrested and MPs were beaten up. He said he spoke to the Tripura Chief Minister over phone yesterday and will seek a report from the State”.
Ms. Banerjee, before leaving for Delhi, told reporters on Kolkata that she would be meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday. This is the second visit of the Trinamool Congress chairperson to Delhi after the Assembly polls in which her party registered a big win over the BJP.
“I am going to Delhi today because the day after tomorrow, I have an appointment with the Prime Minister on the BSF issue and other development issues related to West Bengal,” she said. She accused the Union government of using its forces for the BJP’s benefit.
‘BJP thinks BSF is BJP’
“The BSF is not my enemy. But the BJP thinks that the BSF is the BJP. Law and order is a State subject and apart from the State police, there are so many agencies who all have their respective jurisdiction,” she stated.
The recent MHA notification extending the jurisdiction of the BSF from 15 km to 50 km along the border has become a flashpoint between the Centre and the State government. The Trinamool Congress government has passed a resolution in the Assembly urging the Centre to withdraw the notification. The other issue which Ms. Banerjee is likely to discuss is the State’s pending funds with the Centre. She has blamed the Centre for not making enough funds available to the State, particularly after it bore the burnt of natural calamities such as cyclones and floods.
To meet Opposition leaders
Ms. Banerjee’s visit comes ahead of the winter session of Parliament and she is likely to meet leaders of the Opposition parties. Since her earlier visit, which was in July last week this year, the Trinamool Congress has made inroads in Tripura and Goa.
One of the highlights of her visit in July was meeting Congress president Sonia Gandhi. In the past few months, a number of Congress leaders, which includes former Congress Mahila Morcha president Sushmita Dev and former Goa Chief Minister Luizinho Faleiro have joined the TMC. It will be interesting to watch whether the Congress’s top leadership is reaching out to Ms. Banerjee or she will be reaching out to senior Congress leaders during this visit.
