Trinamool to take out anti-NRC rallies

Trinamool Congress will conduct statewide rallies condemning NRC list in Assam on Saturday but would keep Kolkata out of the agitation map in view of BJP’s national president Amit Shah’s rally in the city on the same day.

“Instead,” said Trinamool secretary general, Partha Chatterjee, “the protest rallies in Kolkata will be conducted on August 12.”

While Mamata Banerjee has gone to the extent of alleging the citizenship screening exercise can lead to civil war and bloodshed, her party supporters will hold street meetings, protest marches, carry black flags, wear black badges in 22 districts of the state on Saturday.

“There is no inference to be drawn from the decision to organise the rally in Kolkata on Sunday instead of Saturday. It is a matter of courtesy that we are showing,” Chatterjee said.

BJP Bengal unit president Dilip Ghosh shot back, “We don’t want any courtesy. Trinamool has taken up the agitation programme to stop our workers in the districts from attending the rally. Mamata Banerjee is now afraid of our party.”

The saffron leaders also alleged that ruling party supporters prevented some of their workers from attending Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rally in Midnapore on July 16.

Though he did not mention it, Chatterjee, who is also the education minister of Bengal, wanted to scotch frequent tongue wagging by the Left that Trinamool has a secret understanding with the BJP. When pointed out that Trinamool workers have swamped the area around Amit Shah’s rally at Mayo Road with party flags and banners of Mamata Banerjee, a visibly agitated Chatterjee said that BJP and a section of the media are unnecessarily making an issue.

Talking about Chatterjee comment on “political courtesy”, general secretary of BJP’s Bengal unit, Sayantan Basu said such statements do not behove Trinamool Congress leaders.

“Fixing party flags and chief minister banners immediately before our rally is Trinamool’s standard of showing courtesy. We are sure that Trinamool workers will try to prevent our supporters from the districts to come to Kolkata tomorrow to attend our rally,” said Basu.

On Friday a section of intellectuals of the city slammed the citizenship screening exercise, wondering how could someone possessing voter and Aadhaar cards be described as a non-citizen.

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