After being released from custody, TMC’s Abhishek Banerjee called it “a black day for Indian democracy”

Abhishek Banerjee, the general secretary of the Trinamool Congress (TMC), declared that today is a “black day for Indian democracy” after he and other TMC leaders, including Derek O’Brien and Mahua Moitra, were freed by the police on intervention night on Tuesday and Wednesday, almost three hours after they had been detained during a sit-in at Krishi Bhawan in Delhi.

After his short imprisonment, Banerjee spoke to the media and stated, “You (BJP) are ripping away the rights of the people of West Bengal since you lost in the state. The BJP has stopped accepting donations from the public since it has lost every election in West Bengal.

The TMC leader has called for a “Raj Bhavan Abhiyan” campaign against the tragedy in Kolkata on Thursday. “Will hold a rally at Raj Bhavan on October 5 at 3 p.m. called the ‘Raj Bhavan Abhiyan’ against police abuse. Will will visit with the Governor and present him with the 50 lakh letters, added Banerjee.

Banerjee charged that the Delhi Police “dragged and manhandled” the MPs and MLAs, including women, and that the incident would serve as an illustration of the ‘New India’ because journalists who questioned the government were charged with violating the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).

The way Delhi Police officers conducted themselves today… MPs were dragged out by their hair. A million people vote to choose an MP. Zamindar of the BJP in Raj Bhavan is nominated. People would respond to that, he continued, referring to how Mahua Moitra and Dola Sen were seized by their hands and legs and hauled into police trucks.

Before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Banerjee continued to criticize the incumbent BJP, saying, “In the next six months people will give you a lesson. The nation’s citizens will use their authority, and today’s incident will always be remembered as a bad day. Even the British did not conduct today’s Delhi Police in such a despicable manner.

He said, “Journalists are being booked under various sections, public officials are being mistreated, corrupt individuals are being inducted and having their sins washed away, and the rapists of Bilkis Bano are being honored.”

Tuesday during their demonstration seeking the release of MGNREGA funding, the TMC arrested around 30 leaders, according to the Delhi Police. Since Monday, the TMC team, headed by Abhishek Banerjee, has been based in the capital along with parliamentarians from the party. On Gandhi Jayanti, they sat in a dharna at the Rajghat for two hours till the police forced them to leave.

They protested on Tuesday in Jantar Mantar and then marched to the Ministry of Rural Development at the Krishi Bhawan, where they held a meeting with Minister of State Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti.

Read this: Following the dharna at Krishi Bhawan, Delhi Police apprehended TMC MPs including Derek O’Brien and Abhishek Banerjee.

The minister allegedly declined to meet with TMC leaders after a one and a half hour wait, stating that she would only speak with five representatives. The TMC leaders, who had carried letters for the prime minister and the minister of rural development, wouldn’t go till Jyoti saw them.

She delayed us while she visited with BJP leaders. She exited the building via the back entrance around 8.30 p.m., he said, adding that the Center should provide “papers” pertaining to the suspected swindle.

They were arrested by the police and forced to leave the ministry grounds after the demonstration persisted until 9 o’clock at night. The TMC leaders were transported to Mukherjee Nagar in Delhi’s Utsav Sadan. A senior police official said that “over twenty TMC supporters were detained, including Abhishek Banerjee and Derek O’Brien.”