West Bengal: TMC protests against showing of black flags to Mamata in UP

Banerjee is currently on a visit to BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh to campaign for the Samajwadi Party (SP) in the ongoing Assembly elections.

Members of Trinamool Chattra Parishad, the students’ wing of the Trinamool, held protests at several colleges and universities while party leaders took out a rally in Howrah targeting the BJP for disrespecting Banerjee. Protests were also held in Bankura, Purulia, Hooghly and West Burdwan districts, apart from Kolkata.

The West Bengal chief minister reached Varanasi, which also happens to be the Lok Sabha constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Wednesday afternoon. She was on her way to the Dasashwamedh Ghat to watch the customary ‘Ganga Aarti’ in the evening when some people, alleged to be members of a right-wing outfit, showed her black flags and chanted ‘Jai Shri Ram’.

On Thursday, TMCP members assembled in front of Presidency University holding bowls of water from the Ganga before taking out a march.

“We have assembled here to protest against the way our chief minister was greeted in Uttar Pradesh. She was insulted by right-wing outfit supporters. We strongly condemn this. If a chief minister of a state cannot be given adequate security in the Lok Sabha constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, then we can well understand the real situation in BJP-ruled states,” TMCP President Trinankur Bhattacharya said. Later, TMCP members held a rally at Shyambazar five-point crossing and burnt effigies of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

Trinamool state general secretary Kunal Ghosh said the BJP was spooked by the mere presence of Mamata Banerjee in UP. “It is clear from yesterday’s incident that the BJP is scared after seeing Mamata Banerjee in UP. They were terrorised by her presence there and therefore resorted to such tactics. By doing so, the BJP has accepted that Mamata Banerjee is the only alternative to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the country,” Ghosh said.