Hay ki holo, Mamata di paliye gelo.... (Alas what happened, Mamata di has fled!)
Slogans like this one rent the air as the BJP’s youth wing was marching on Thursday in the streets of Kolkata and Howrah, where state secretariat of the West Bengal government is located. The march was in violation of the pandemic situation.
The seat of power is closed for sanitisation.
Soumitra Khan, the state Yuva Morcha chief, attacked Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Khan said, "What she [Mamata] did five days ago against farm bill? Was that not a violation."
A striking sight came from Howrah where MP of Purulia, Jyotirmoy Mahato, was leading a big rally from Dhulagarh area. There were around 40,000 people who were coming. Within half-an-hour, the crowd swelled and police were outnumbered. Around 1 lakh people are already seen on the road, according to initial estimates.
"Sensing the situation, they were forced to give us safe passage. They were scared seeing our number," said Mahato.
In Dankuni, however, police resorted to lathi-charge to disperse the crowd. The rallies came from four points. One from BJP office of Central Avenue, second from Hastings near Second Hooghly Bridge, third from Howrah's Santragachi and one from Salt Lake.
Kolkata wore a deserted look just a fortnight away from Durga Puja festival. All shops were closed on account of the Yuva Morcha rally. Section 144 has been clamped in Kolkata but it is of no use. Water cannons are ready and drones are flying in the sky at every location. Police appeared confused by the situation.
Senior BJP leaders like Dilip Ghosh, Mukul Roy, Arjun Singh, Bharati Ghosh and Sabyasachi Roy are leading the four different rallies.
State in charges of the BJP Kailash Vijayvargiya and Arvind Menon are also taking part.
"Can you imagine the fear in the mind of chief minister? She is so scared that she has fled. The government that is dependent solely on police, not support of people, is to go. People will give her extended holiday soon," said Dilip Ghosh.
