BJP national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya and party leader Mukul Roy were detained by Kolkata Police Friday.
Kolkata Police Friday detained BJP national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya and party leader Mukul Roy during a rally in support of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). The rally was being held at Tollygunge in south Kolkata.
The Mamata Banerjee government has started an “autocratic” rule in West Bengal but the BJP cannot be intimidated, Vijayvargiya told reporters while being taken to a police vehicle. “We were taking out a rally in support of the CAA which has received overwhelming support from all over the country. But the police of Mamata Banerjee is not allowing us to take out a peaceful, democratic rally,” he said. Read in Bangla
He also said that they won’t resist being taken to the city police headquarters “as we believe in democratic protest.”
कोलकाता में आज #CAA के समर्थन में मेरी रैली थी। पुलिस ने मुझे और श्री @MukulR_Official जी को गिरफ्तार कर लिया है और लाल बाज़ार पुलिस हेडक्वार्टर ले जा रहे हैं।
संसद में पारित किसी कानून के समर्थन में रैली करना कौनसा अपराध है, जो हमें गिरफ्तार किया गया?#CAAJanJagran pic.twitter.com/71BzSpzJfJ
— Kailash Vijayvargiya (@KailashOnline) February 7, 2020
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Police said the rally was being held without permission, but the saffron party asserted that it has informed the authorities about it, news agency PTI reported.
The new citizenship law has emerged as the latest flashpoint in the state of Bengal, with the TMC opposing the contentious legislation tooth and nail, and the BJP pressing for its implementation.
Earlier this week, Banerjee slammed the BJP for trying to forcibly implement CAA, the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and the National Population Register (NPR) and described them as “black magic”.
“We (TMC) are not a party of Dushasanas like the BJP. They are the offsprings of Muhammad-bin-Tughlaq, and people should unite to save the country from it,” she said during a rally in Bengal.
The chief minister also said that despite her assurances, over 30 people have died in West Bengal due to fear of the proposed country-wide NRC.