Bengal Left, Congress MLAs seek governor's intervention to save democracy

Accusing West Bengal's Trinamool Congress government of importing a "bouncer culture" in the state including in the assembly, a delegation of Left Front and Congress legislators on Tuesday met Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi and urged him to take necessary steps to protect the democratic and constitutional rights of the peoplee.

The delegation led by Leader of the Opposition Abdul Mannan of the Congress and Left Front legislature party leader Sujan Chakraborty said the "bouncer culture" exists even within the assembly, where non-MLAs outnumber MLAs.

"The state government has imported a bouncer culture here to throttle the voice of democracy. The same is being done in the state assembly. The number of non-MLAs are higher inside the assembly that the MLAs. Who are these people? Who has sent them?" Chakraborty questioned.

Describing "as unprecedented" Monday's police assault on Left workers during their march to the secretariat protest programme, he complained they were not allowed to raise the issue in the House, which is now in session.

"Yesterday's attack on common people is unprecedented. However, we have not been allowed to raise in the House the issue of lack of democracy in the state. We have met the Governor as he is the administrative head in the state and asked him to take necessary steps to save the democracy and constitution," Chakraborty told reporters after the meeting.

Terming the police action on Left activists during Monday's March to Nabanna (state secretariat) as "brutal", he said they would g as far as necessary to prevent the attack on democracy.

"Yesterday Kolkata saw a historic agitation of people on the one hand and witnessed one sided attack on the common man on the other hand. They have seen what police brutality means. More than 1,000 of our activists got injured," Chakraborty claimed.

"This attack is against democracy. We have to stop this at any cost. We will go as far as we need to, to stop this," he added.

--IANS

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