On Monday, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) staged protests across West Bengal in response to Home Minister Amit Shah's comments about Dr B.R. Ambedkar in parliament. The party organised rallies and marches in various blocks and municipal wards across the state.
Last week, West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee directed party leaders across all levels to actively protest against the home minister. Trinamool general secretary Subrata Bakshi issued directives to the party’s district presidents, district chairpersons, MPs, MLAs and the mayors and chairpersons of corporations and municipalities.
Several rallies, led by senior TMC leaders, were held across Kolkata. Mayor Firhad Hakim led a demonstration in the city's ward number 82, calling for Shah to either clarify his remarks or step down from his position.
At the end of the rally, Hakim paid floral tribute to a statue of Dr Ambedkar and said, “Amit Shah’s slanderous remarks on Babasaheb Ambedkar is not just an insult to him but also an insult to the Constitution of India.”
#WATCH | Kolkata | TMC leader and West Bengal Minister Shashi Panja along with party workers today held a protest over Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s remarks on BR Ambedkar
— ANI (@ANI) December 23, 2024
She says, "Today, protests are happening in the entire state. The insult of BR Ambedkar cannot be… pic.twitter.com/AS94iiEXjL
“Amit Shah used to give directions for encounters over the phone. He was in CBI custody for 72 days,” the Kolkata Municipal Corporation mayor added. “Now that he is the home minister, what was supposed to happen is happening. But Babasaheb’s stature won’t be reduced by them.”
In the Girish Park area of the city, Dr Shashi Panja, the minister for women and child development and social welfare of West Bengal, led a march, while Trinamool leader Kunal Ghosh organised a protest with party workers in Kolkata’s ward number 28.
Several other Trinamool MLAs, including Sujit Bose from Bidhannagar in North 24 Parganas, Bivas Sardar from Baruipur Purba in North 24 Parganas, and Abdur Razzak from Jalangi in Murshidabad, spearheaded protest marches in their respective constituencies.
Protests were also held in districts such as Bankura, Purba Medinipur, Paschim Medinipur, Hooghly, Jalpaiguri, Maldah, and Birbhum. Additionally, the Trinamool Chhatra Parishad (TMCP), the ruling party's student wing, staged demonstrations at colleges across West Bengal to condemn the home minister’s remarks about Ambedkar.
