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Mamata Banerjee's slap at Baruipur protest caught on camera; BJP shares video
In a post on X, BJP spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari claimed that Mamata Banerjee had slapped a TMC worker.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari on Wednesday shared a video of former West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee purportedly slapping a person during the TMC protest rally over the rape and murder of an 11-year-old girl in Baruipur.
In a post on X, Bhandari claimed that Banerjee had slapped a TMC worker.
“Mamata Banerjee has completely lost her mental balance after losing elections! Mamata Banerjee Hits Multiple People belonging to her own party during Protest march today,” the BJP spokesperson wrote.
An animated Banerjee was seen trying to disperse an excited crowd in front of her house on Harish Chatterjee Street. She even slapped a worker whose political identity HT could not yet ascertain.
TMC, BJP workers clash
Workers of the BJP and the TMC youth wing clashed in Kolkata on Wednesday during a protest march by the Mamata Banerjee-led party over the Baruipur rape and murder, prompting police personnel to baton charge to control the situation.
According to a PTI report, the rally, which was organised by youth workers of the Mamata Banerjee-aligned TMC after securing a green signal from the Calcutta high court, was repeatedly obstructed by BJP workers who raised "thief" slogans and even tried to set up human barricades along the protest march route along the Hazra Road.
During the rally, which originated in Ballygunge Phari in southern Kolkata, agitated workers from both sides were seen engaging in fistfights, prompting security forces to intervene with a baton charge to disperse the brawlers.
The agitating BJP workers maintained that the TMC had "no right" to organise a protest rally on the Baruipur incident, alleging that the erstwhile Mamata Banerjee government "shielded criminals perpetrating crimes against women, shamed victims" and often trivialised them as "minor incidents", charges that were refuted by the protesters.
The clashes, which began from the rally's originating point and continued in phases all through the roughly three-kilometre rally route, reached a climactic high at its termination point at Hazra Crossing, not far from the former chief minister's residence, with police having a tough time in stopping the chaos from spiralling out of control.
What Mamata Banerjee said
Condemning the attack on TMC workers, Banerjee alleged that the BJP carried out a "planned rampage", assaulting men and women alike, with "the city police standing by as mute spectators".
"We had the court's permission to conduct this rally. Even then, they assaulted our women. Many of our workers are bleeding badly, and I had to come out of my house to rescue them. They took out a bike rally in the morning near my residence and threatened me. They kept playing DJs all through the rally route and even snatched our hand mics for which we had the court's leave," she said.
"Police are acting like BJP cadres, I am sorry to say," she alleged.
The former CM accused the BJP of "hiring lumpen forces" to unleash chaos on the rally and maintained this wasn't the change the Bengal people wanted.
"I am accusing the police of failing to shoulder the responsibility of ensuring the rally was conducted peacefully when there was a court order permitting it. Instead, they allowed the BJP to attack our rally, permitted them to set up a stage on our rally route and play DJ music," Banerjee said, calling the police behaviour one that was tantamount to contempt of court.
She alleged that within two months of the BJP assuming power, more than 14 women were raped, tortured and murdered in various parts of the state.
Meanwhile, BJP leaders alleged that their supporters were provoked by TMC youth wing workers.
BJP state president Samik Bhattacharya rubbished those claims, stating people of Bengal have rejected TMC's politics, which is hinged on arrogance and appeasement.
"Mamata Banerjee is a veteran political worker who loves to walk on the streets. We have not obstructed her from doing that. But the TMC betrayed the trust people put in the party 15 years ago. They did not allow the violent political culture in the state to change," he said.
The rape and murder case update
Prabhas Mondal, one of the prime accused in the rape and murder of the Baruipur minor, was killed in an alleged encounter early on Wednesday after he "snatched a firearm from a policeman and tried to escape from custody" during a crime scene reconstruction exercise, police said.
Another absconding accused, Kabir Molla, was arrested on Wednesday, taking the total number of arrests in the rape-murder case to four. Besides Mondal, Anand Sardar and Dibakar Sardar had also been booked earlier.
