UPDATED
After a daylong dharna and slogans in front of the Ministry of Home Affairs as the Union Home Minister Amit Shaha declined to meet the TMC MPs over Tripura violence and also arrest of their youth leader Sayani Ghosh, the party’s Parliamentarians ultimately got the audience with him.
In the afternoon the Shah agreed to meet the TMC Parliamentarians and they discussed the Tripura issue with him. The MPs gave him details of violence and also apprised him of the arrest of TMC leader Sayani Ghosh. They submiited a memorandum to him.
Sources said, the Union Home Minister told the TMC MPs that he was aware of the violence and that he had already spoken to Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb on the matter.
“Nevertheless”, he assured the TMC leaders, “ I shall ask for detailed report from the state government”, according to sources.
“I shall heard you and I shall heard the state government now. And I shall ask the state government to make the situation normal”, said Shah in his half an hour meeting.
TMC delegation included MPs Santanu Sen, Kalyan Banerjee, Derek O’Brien, Mala Roy, Kalyan Banerjee, Sukhendu Sekhar Roy and 11 others.
Earlier, throughout the day the TMC MPs sat on a dharna in front of Ministry of Home Affairs office in New Delhi.
TMC MPs shouted slogans against the Home Minister and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
” Both of them must listen to us and rein the BJP in Tripura,” said Sukhendu Sekhar Ray.
This time TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee also for the first time came out with a hard hitting statement and said that she would raise the issue with Prime Minister Narendra Modi when she would meet him soon.
Taking note of Union Home Minister’s rejection to meet the party MPs Banerjee alleged that Shah failed to show minimum courtesy to the. The West Bengal Chief Minister also called upon the Human Rights activists to take the Tripura matter.
She alleged that the Tripura government was also not obeying the Supreme Court order that directed the government to ensure free poll campaign of the opposition for the civic polls.
“I will appeal to the higher judiciary to act as per law,” she said.
Meanwhile, taking exception to Ghosh’s arrest, protesters in West Bengal, where the TMC is in power, pasted pictures of TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee and Abhishek Banerjee on the walls of BJP headquarters in Kolkata on Monday morning.
Activists of the Mamata Banerjee-led party also demonstrated outside the BJP’s office before setting out on a march in the heart of Kolkata. Similar agitations were witnessed in other parts of Bengal.
One of the TMC leaders, who took part in the protest, said his party members wanted to convey to the BJP that if they wanted they could take control of the BJP office.
“By pasting pictures of Mamata Banerjee and Abhishek Banerjee on the walls of BJP office, we have proved that if the Trinamool wanted, it could take over the office. But we will not do that. The TMC believes in upholding democracy,” he added.
