Mamata Banerjee announced that the INDIA alliance will supply evidence to President Droupadi Murmu regarding vote theft allegations. Banerjee also alleged that she and other leaders were forcibly detained during a peaceful protest in Delhi. The opposition leader raised concerns about democracy when peaceful assembly was restricted by the police. BJP leader Samik Bhattacharya criticized Banerjee for associating with opposition leaders during the protest.
New Delhi: Former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday said the INDIA bloc would provide evidence for alleged "vote theft" to President Droupadi Murmu as an alliance delegation met her and submitted a memorandum on Friday.
According to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, President Murmu had assured the INDIA bloc delegation that she would examine the allegations of "vote chori" thoroughly and had sought evidence regarding the accusations.
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Amid the row over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise and protests against CEC Gyanesh Kumar, Mamata Banerjee told reporters that the opposition alliance stands united.
"We (INDIA alliance) are together. The President has said that she doesn't have any evidence to investigate, to which we said that we will provide the evidence," Banerjee said.
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Earlier, after being released from detention in Delhi, Banerjee alleged that she and other Trinamool Congress (TMC) leaders were forcibly taken away by Delhi Police in a prison van while staging a sit-in protest near their residence after they were denied permission to proceed to Jantar Mantar.
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Banerjee said she had planned to attend a programme organised by CJP's Abhijeet Dipke.
"We wanted to go to Jantar Mantar because Abhijeet Dipke had invited us several times to attend his programme. Earlier, I did not get an opportunity to go there. So, when I came to Delhi this time, I thought I should definitely attend his programme. The INDIA Alliance also had a programme yesterday," she said.
She said that before leaving her residence, they had asked police personnel deployed outside whether they would be allowed to go to Jantar Mantar, but were told they would be stopped on the way.
"When we arrived there, the first thing we did was ask the police personnel deployed outside our residence whether we would be allowed to go to Jantar Mantar. They said they would not let us go there and would stop us on the way," she said.
She alleged that when they sat at a bus stop in front of their residence to show solidarity, police personnel arrived and told them that even three people could not remain together.
"Our only intention is that if the issue is genuine, then everybody should support them. We were sitting at the bus stand in front of our house because we weren't being allowed to pass; we had come to show support," she said.
Banerjee alleged that the police forcibly removed them and took them away in a prison van, treating them like wanted criminals.
"Then the police force arrived and said that not even three people could stay together. We sat there, keeping a distance between our groups of three. Then, within a minute, they removed us forcibly, taking us away in a prison van, as if we were wanted criminals. I have never experienced anything like this, being arrested and put into a police van," she said.
"They drove us around for two hours. We went to one police station, then another, and another; at each one, they said there was no space. Eventually, we felt like we were being kidnapped," she added.
Questioning the restrictions on the protest, Banerjee asked who democracy was meant to serve if people were not allowed to assemble peacefully.
"If people aren't allowed to walk, sit, or even have the media cover the event, then who is this democracy for? Actions like this only heighten the importance of the movement," she said.
Meanwhile, BJP West Bengal president and MP Samik Bhattacharya questioned Banerjee's association with opposition leaders.
"We are missing Mamata Banerjee. She ought to have been here today. Today, a daughter of the land is facing arrest in Delhi; this is not right," Bhattacharya said.
"Why is she going to Delhi? Mamata Banerjee, who calls herself a 'lioness,' is today associating with cockroaches, crabs, rabbits, and deer; why? Nothing will come of it," he added.
The BJP leader further asserted that there was no possibility of a change in government either at the Centre or in West Bengal for the next 20 years.
"For the next 20 years, there is no question of the government changing neither at the Centre nor in the state," he said.
