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New Delhi: Several Trinamool Congress (TMC) MPs were detained in Delhi after they sat on a protest outside the residence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi. The protests which initially began as a peaceful one, soon turned chaotic. It saw several political leaders being dragged away and detained by the police.
The TMC MPs were reportedly protesting against the raids carried out by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) against the political consultancy firm I-PAC in Kolkata on Thursday. The MPS had gathered outside the residence of the Union Home Minister, with placards reading, "Bengal rejects Modi-Shah's dirty politics."
The protests were mainly against the ED raids and the party claimed that these were politically motivated. They said that the raids, just ahead of the West Bengal Assembly Elections, which are scheduled for later this year, smelt of political vendetta. The TMC claimed that the raids were an effort by the Centre to intimidate the West Bengal government, led by Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee.
Among the MPS seen at the protest venue were Mahua Moitra, Derek O'Brien, Satabdi Roy, Kirti Azad and several others. PTI quoted Mahua Moitra as saying, "Yesterday, entire India, Bengal witnessed how ED was misused by the Home Ministry. The ED was sent to steal our party's political, strategic information. Mamata Banerjee is a lioness, she protected our party's properties."
TMC MP Kirti Azad said, "They are acting undemocratically; even the raid was illegal. They loot and accuse us of scams. They took away our strategy and candidate lists. BJP’s internal survey shows they won’t get more than 25 seats. But Mamata Banerjee will secure a massive mandate as CM and go on to become the Prime Minister."
As the MPs started shouting slogans, the Delhi Police immediately intervened and detained them. MPs, Mahua Moitra, Derek O Brien and others were dragged to a police van and detained.
While trying to release himself from the clutches of the police, Derek O Brien said, "You are seeing what's happening to MPs here."
Mahua Moitra, who was being practically carried to the van by police personnel. She was heard shouting, "We will defeat the BJP. The country is seeing how the Delhi Police is treating an elected MP."
The entire fiasco started when West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee visited the raid site of the ED on Thursday. The central agency had carried out a raid at 2 offices of I-PAC in Kolkata. The organisation not only provides political consultancy to Trinamool, but also manages its social media and IT operations. Thus the TMC claimed that the Centre's action was aimed at securing sensitive information, regarding their poll preparations.
Banerjee had accused the Central government of trying to seize internal documents, hard disks and digital data, related to TMC, in the name of raids at I-PAC. She is also scheduled to hold a protest march in Kolkata on Friday. The march is scheduled to start at 2 pm and will cover the stretch between Jadavpur 8B Bus Stand to Hazra More. This march is in protest against the ED raids.
On Friday, following the detention of TMC MPs in Delhi, party leader Abhishek Banerjee tweeted, "Democracy is punished. Criminals are rewarded. Agencies are weaponised. Elections are manipulated. JAIL the PROTESTERS. BAIL the RAPISTS. This is BJP’s version of New India. Even if the rest of the country is forced to surrender, Bengal will resist. We will fight you tooth and nail and defeat you,no matter how much force you unleash. #AbarJitbeBangla".
