A day after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) raided the office of I-PAC in connection with an alleged coal smuggling case, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee took to the streets to protest against the ED action. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party is trying to come to power in West Bengal just like it did in Maharashtra and Haryana.
Addressing the gathering, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said, “I never react, but if someone hurts me, I never leave him. In the name of SIR, they are targeting local people. They harassed the elderly and pregnant women. Those who abuse TMC do not know that TMC workers are extremely dedicated.”
He said, “Local people are being harassed in the name of SIR. Their documents are being taken away and they are not being given receipts. When the census took place, Booth Level Agent-1 went door-to-door along with BLOs. They will be present in the polling stations and booths.”
He further said that he had never seen a party like BJP before.
Mamata Banerjee said, “If you talk in Bengali, they declare you a Bangladeshi. They say Rohingyas are present in Bengal, but where are Rohingyas? If Rohingyas are there, then why SIR was not started in Assam? Rohingyas come from Myanmar.”
He further said, “First they have to cross Manipur, Nagaland and Assam. All this is being done because they want to come to power in Bengal like Maharashtra and Haryana. They steal votes through the Election Commission; the Election Commission cannot harm me.”
He said, “The Bungalow Housing Scheme has been closed for the last four years. The mid-day meal money and the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan money have also been stopped.”
She said, “You know who is sitting in the Election Commission. The Election Commissioner was the Secretary of the Cooperation Department of the Home Minister. If Gyanesh Kumar is making votes disappear, why would I remain silent? If the rights of voters are taken away, I will take away your rights. TMC MPs protesting in Delhi were brutally dragged. All the agencies have been taken over.”
He further alleged that Bengali speaking citizens are being attacked in BJP ruled states.
He further said, “Bengali people are being attacked in Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Rajasthan. Hindi speaking citizens have never been attacked here.”
Mamata Banerjee started protest against ED in Kolkata on Friday.
Banerjee criticized the arrest of Trinamool Congress MPs in Delhi, accusing the BJP-led central government of suppressing democratic protests and misusing law enforcement agencies.
He said there can be no compromise on dignity and respect in a democracy, and stressed that those in power cannot behave arbitrarily with citizens and elected representatives.
Earlier, several Trinamool Congress (TMC) MPs were detained for protesting against the raid on the I-PAC office by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) outside the office of Union Home Minister Amit Shah in the capital on Friday.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has accused Banerjee of entering the residential premises of top political consultancy group I-PAC director Prateek Jain during its ongoing search operation in Kolkata and taking away “crucial evidence”, including physical documents and electronic devices.
In a statement, the ED said its team was conducting the search operation in a peaceful and professional manner until the arrival of the West Bengal Chief Minister and a large number of police officers.
