You’ll have to hear people call you thief: Suvendu attacks Mamata

Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Sunday claimed that the protest his predecessor Mamata Banerjee faced at Halisahar in North 24 Parganas district while going to visit the family of a deceased Trinamool Congress worker reflected “strong public anger”.

Banerjee faced a group of protesters who surrounded her vehicle, raised “chor-chor” slogans and hurled mud and slippers at her car earlier in the day. She had gone to visit the family of a TMC worker who allegedly died in police custody.

Denying any involvement of the ruling BJP in the incident, Adhikari said, “You (Banerjee) have committed so much theft, you will have to hear people call you a thief.” He questioned why Banerjee did not visit the family of ‘Abhaya’ (fearless), a moniker given to the RG Kar victim by the state’s protesting millions, on the second anniversary of her death.

“You could have gone to Abhaya’s house today. You could have gone to Ratna Debnath with a towel around your neck and apologised, saying you had made a mistake and asking for forgiveness. I believe she would have forgiven you,” he said. Ratna Debnath, the mother of ‘Abhaya’, is now a BJP MLA. Debnath had said she contested the elections to fight for justice, and had accused Banerjee of failing to save her daughter.

Adhikari added, “You (Banerjee) killed Abhaya, went to destroy evidence and tried to buy her family with Rs 10 lakh. If people threw mud at your car, what else would they throw? Flowers?” He alleged Banerjee went to Halisahar without being invited by the deceased’s family and said the kin was satisfied with the police and administration.

“Do not do this when the family is shutting the door. You are saying you will enter by force. Do it when people seek your help or intervention. This is the time for development. Do not go anywhere and do anything that disrupts normal life,” Adhikari said.

Banerjee was forced to pass through a police cordon as the demonstration briefly turned the road into a charged political theatre, with the rival sides trading allegations of conspiracy, provocation and administrative failure.

“My car has been attacked with stones, shoes and mud. This is nothing but a conspiracy. I had informed the police that I would be coming, but despite that, no security measures were taken,” Banerjee told reporters after reaching the area.

The former chief minister alleged that large bricks were also thrown at her vehicle. “My head could have been smashed. I could have died here,” she said, accusing the BJP-led state government of using “goons” to target her.

Banerjee also trained her guns on Chief Minister and Home Minister Suvendu Adhikari, saying she had no particular anger against the police, but alleged that the force was being used at the behest of the state government. “The police are protecting the lumpens. Bengal has fallen into the hands of lumpens,” she said, adding that her party would pursue the matter legally.