Sandeshkhali: In a step to mobilise the political momentum against the ruling Trinamul Congress party in West Bengal, its rival BJP has announced a marathon three-day ‘dharna’ to be organised in Central Kolkata. Notably, the West Bengal unit of the BJP is planning a marathon three-day dharna from February 27 in Kolkata along with a few women from Sandeshkhali, as per a report in the news agency IANS.
The party plans to launch protests on the lines of the Nandigram movement that ended the Left Front’s rule in the state. Suvendu Adhikari was the key man behind organising the Nandigram movement as the-then Trinamool Congress leader and the BJP leadership wants to use his experience now to corner the Mamata Banerjee government.
The women have been protesting for quite some time in Sandeshkhali, accusing associates of local Trinamool Congress leaders of sexual harassment and violence against them. The demonstration will start on February 27 and continue until the evening of February 29.
Top BJP Leaders To Participate In Demonstration
The BJP’s state president, Dr Sukanta Majumdar and the Leader of Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, along with other senior leaders of the party, will lead the demonstration. The venue of the demonstration will be the base of Mahatma Gandhi’s statue in central Kolkata. The decision on this count was taken at a special meeting of the state committee of the BJP that was convened on Friday morning to finalise the party’s strategy for the Sandeshkhali crisis in the days to come.
“There are clear instructions from the party’s central committee to tap all possible avenues and go all out to organise movements against the state government and ruling dispensation on the Sandeshkhali issue.
“Instructions are also there to organise movements involving victims, especially the protesting women there. On this point, the idea of organising a three-day marathon sit-in-demonstration involving the protesting women of Sandeshkhali was floated and accepted,” a BJP state committee member said.
Meanwhile, party insiders said that there are clear instructions from the central leadership that the movement over the Sandeshkhali crisis should be organised on the lines of the movement against land acquisition at Nandigram in East Midnapore District between 2007 and 2009.
History Of Nandigram Movement
The Nandigram movement is perceived to have played a key role in ending the 34-year rule of the Left Front. Notably, Subhendu Adhikari joined the BJP before the 2021 Vidhan Sabha polls and in that election, he got elected from Nandigram after defeating the Trinamool Congress candidate and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who had to subsequently get elected in the bi-elections from Bhabanipur Assembly constituency. Consequently, the BJP leadership now wants to use Adhikari’s successful experience in organising the Nandigram movement for a movement in Sandeshkhali.
(With inputs from agencies)
