West Bengal’s politically charged July 21 Martyrs’ Day observance took an unprecedented turn as Mamata Banerjee alleged that BJP-backed goons vandalised her faction’s stage, banners, and sound system near Birla Planetarium. The Trinamool Congress supremo spent the night at the venue with senior leaders including Abhishek Banerjee and Derek O’Brien, with party workers guarding the stage until Tuesday morning.
Addressing supporters around midnight, Banerjee claimed that workers and families of those killed in the 1993 police firing were being prevented from attending. ‘Around 60-65 BJP-backed goons, led by a criminal out on court orders, carried out the attack,’ she alleged, without naming Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari but accusing the BJP government of intimidation.
The BJP rejected the allegations. State minister Dilip Ghosh questioned the overnight stay, saying, ‘This is supposed to be a programme to honour martyrs, not a protest stage.’ The July 21 event commemorates 13 Youth Congress workers killed in police firing in 1993 and has been a key TMC mobilisation since 1994.
Article and image source: deccanherald.com
