What is vendetta politics and what is not? Trinamool Congress (TMC) calls the attack on their MP Abhishek Banerjee’s Camac Street office on Thursday as an example of BJP-backed vendetta politics.
The BJP denies involvement, suggesting an internal party feud behind the attack. Six of the twelve people seen in CCTV footage, hailing from Howrah on the Western fringes of Kolkata, have been arrested.
Their motives and political affiliations are yet to be ascertained in police custody amid further questioning.
The TMC says it was a pre-planned attack at 4:30 AM on Thursday while Abhishek had been in Delhi, and has also alleged that the Shakespeare Sarani police did not respond to calls and when they arrived at the spot before 6:00 AM, they remained mere bystanders.
The police, however, claimed that they had reached the spot, arrested the six accused, and seized stolen and vandalised material from them while the others in the CCTV footage were being identified.
Why is the TMC calling it vendetta politics by the BJP?
Last Thursday, officers from the Shakespeare Sarani Police Station and Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) officials arrived at the MP’s office with a notice to remove illegal hoardings.
Abhishek had raised questions about an incomplete notice under the norms, and that his office was private property. That did not stop police and KMC officials who maintained that the common space was public property and barged into the building, ensuing in a scuffle as Abhishek’s office staff and TMC supporters tried to stop police and KMC officials.
Hoardings of the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) were removed from the outside of the building and from the terrace, but what transpired in between was some TMC supporters and Abhishek’s staff being detained by police.
FIRs were subsequently filed against Abhishek and MP Derek O'Brien who was at the spot resisting the police on duty. The duo went for marathon questioning at the Shakespeare Sarani Police Station this week, after which came the vandalism at Abhishek’s office on Thursday.
On Friday, the West Bengal fire department ordered the closure of the basement, sixth, and seventh floors of the Camac Street office, citing inadequate fire safety norms.
After the vandalism, Abhishek questioned why the Prime Minister’s Office, Home Minister’s Office and the West Bengal Governor were looking the other way.
His aunt and former CM Mamata Banerjee condemned the attack and asked the Supreme Court to intervene. TMC MPs Derek O'Brien, Mahua Moitra, and Saugata Roy also appealed to the West Bengal Governor and President Draupadi Murmu to intervene.
The TMC's time in power for 15 years was a blend of the good and the bad, including allegations of widespread corruption resulting in an anti-incumbency vote that led to the Assembly elections this year going in BJP’s favour.
However, the party is questioning why the BJP is now not leaving the Opposition alone and focusing on governing the state. A fragmented Opposition with the Ritabrata Banerjee faction in the Assembly and the Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar faction in the Lok Sabha leaves the Mamata camp fighting in small numbers to make an impact.
“You can stop the opposition some of the time, but you cannot stop the opposition all of the time,” Mamata said recently, rephrasing a famous quote attributed to Abraham Lincoln.
This may be a sign that her faction will not bow down under pressure. However, with rapid developments unfolding, the Mamata faction has an uncertain road ahead.
But, Abraham Lincoln also reportedly said this: "Courage is not the absence of fear. It is going forward with the face of fear.”
