West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, on Monday asked state’s chief secretary that legal action may have to be considered, if anyone attempts to access Banga Bhawan without permission.
“I will tell my chief secretary that if anyone visits Banga Bhawan… it’s a property of the West Bengal government. If it’s visited without permission, we may have to take legal action,” she said on the sidelines of a public programme in Murshidabad district.
The chief minister said that Gujarat police, on the night day before yesterday, defying norms, along with Delhi police, accessed the CCTV cameras at the Bhawan. Banerjee reminded that on some occasions when she is travelling alone to the capital, she stays at the premises.
The Governor, the Chief Justice, and the judges, also stay there. Besides, media personnel also stay there. Who gave this right (to access the premises without consent), she questioned. She added that one can make a requisition, but no requisition had been allowed.
Without naming anyone, Banerjee recalled that the party’s one ‘social worker’ who works on the social-net, had been taken away, against the norms (by police from Gujarat). He was on way to Rajasthan airport, from there he was detained and taken to Ahmedabad, and after court bail, he was taken away. Banerjee said that she had heard he was picked from the Bhawan. The chief minister was hinting at Saket Gokhale, the Trinamool’s national spokesperson, who had been arrested in December.
“I am not in favour of bulldozer(s). But those who drive bulldozer(s) on democracy, for them I will say that yours, instead of bulldozer, will be a closure,” she said.
Published 17 January 2023, 02:50 IST