TMC stages dharna at Writers', chaos reigns

Four Trinamool Congress MLAs were arrested today for staging a dharna at the state secretariat, a protest described by Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee as a “circus”, sparking another confrontation with the ruling Left Front in West Bengal.

West Bengal Leader of the Opposition Partha Chatterjee and three MLAs of Union Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee’s TMC were arrested after they went on a dharna before the CM’s office. The MLAs who also included Jyotipriya Mullick, Asok Deb and Swarnakamal Saha were later released on bail.

Jt Commissioner of Kolkata Police R K Pachnanda said the MLAs were produced before a magistrate after they were taken to the Presidency jail.

The chief minister said he could not comprehend what the MLAs wanted. “I immediately asked the police to remove them from Writers’ Buildings which can’t be turned into a circus maidan,” he said after their arrest. The dharna was a rerun of a similar protest at Writers’ Buildings by Mamata in 1992 demanding justice for a rape victim.

The MLAs said they are on dharna to demand the arrest of the chief minister and Home Secretary Ardhendu Sen, who they claimed had ordered “indiscriminate” arrest of TMC supporters in Hooghly district “to protect CPI(M) workers indulging in violence”.

Mamata defended her party’s demand for the arrest of the Chief Minister for what she called state-sponsored terrorism and warned of street protests.

“Enough is enough. A limitless torture campaign is going on in the state to gag the voice of the Opposition,” she said.

Bhattacharjee was escorted into Writers’ Buildings by Special Protection Group commandos and personnel of the Rapid Action Force. They formed a human wall to shield the chief minister.