Security personnel deployed on the NH 117, barricaded to stop BJP supporters from taking part in the party's 'Nabanna Abhiyan' (March to Secretariat), in Howrah district, Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2022. (PTI Photo/Swapan Mahapatra)The West Bengal police action against BJP workers trying to reach Kolkata for Nabanna Abhiyan, one of the party’s biggest campaigns since its 2021 poll defeat, continued on Tuesday morning, with the party saying thousands of its workers were arrested or detained in several districts.
Police stopped BJP workers’ vehicles in many places such as Haldia and Nandigram. They detained the party’s MLAs for Haldia and Sonamukhi—Tapashi Mondol and Dibakar Gharami—and many others in several districts.
As per the BJP’s plan, rallies from three points will try to reach Nabanna, the state secretariat.
Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari will lead a rally from Satraganchi, and party state chief Sukanta Majumdar will lead one from Howrah Maidan. Former state BJP chief Dilip Ghosh will lead workers from College Street. The last time the state BJP carried out such a large-scale campaign was in 2020.
Police deployed at Kolkata and Howrah diverted traffic from many central Kolkata roads from early morning. The Howrah bridge, the Second Hoogly bridge and Esplanade were barricaded.
Adhikari criticised the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress government, “Mamata Police is on a war footing, trying to crush a democratic political event. The barricade of steel raised at Santragachi symbolizes her anxiety & timidity. Remember this @MamataOfficial, no wall can stand up to the ‘wave of democracy’, it would be breached sooner than later,” the former Trinamool leader tweeted.