VVIP racism prevailing in West Bengal: BJP

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday criticised the West Bengal Government after an ambulance carrying a heart victim was held by the policemen waiting for the Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's convoy, and said that the unfortunate incident of VVIP racism shows the kind of mis-governance and lawlessness prevailing in the state.

"In West Bengal the message is very loud and clear that it is Mamata and Mamata alone. The civilians and the people of the state can suffer and they will have to suffer. And, therefore this unfortunate incident of VVIP racism happened," BJP leader Siddharthnath Singh told ANI.

"The incident just goes to show what kind of mis-governance, lawlessness and VVIP racism is happening in West Bengal," he added.

Earlier, an ambulance carrying a heart victim was held by the policemen waiting for the Minister Mamata Banerjee's convoy on an expressway to Kolkata on Wednesday morning, and was not allowed to go even when the patient's kin pleaded with folded hands.

The West Bengal Chief Minister was scheduled to return from Digha in East Midnapore and police was not sure if she would fly back or come by road. But she eventually took a helicopter.

According to reports, Meherjan Begum, the heart patient, lay gasping for breath for 20 minutes while her relative prayed she would cling on to life until they reached SSKM Hospital in Kolkata, a 20-minute drive away.

The senior officers, after learning about her plight, let the ambulance to go.