After spending 30 hours in the Secretariat, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee exited the building and said that she will take legal action against the government if the the army isn’t withdrawn.
She referred to PM Modi’s government as a ‘Daku Government’ and said that the PM is looting people.
A day after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee accused the Centre of deploying the Indian Army in the state without seeking permission, Major Gen Sunil Yadav, General Officer Commanding West Bengal, had clarified that the state police had been informed.
The Indian Army has also released copies of the two letters sent to the Commissioner of Police and the District Magistrate, proving that the local forces had been informed.
Here are the key highlights of the GOC’s press conference:
- The West Bengal Police had been informed of the exercise on 24 November.
- The Indian Army had been deployed to collect some specific information, and were withdrawn 36 hours later, once they had obtained the data.
- The exercise was a routine drill that took place even last year, between 19 and 24 November.
- Nearly 80 points, among nine states in the North East have been identified, to carry out the drill.
- The army could not divulge the nature of the exercise or the data collected.
Banerjee was reportedly still inside State Secretariat ‘Nabanna’ until Friday morning. On the preceding night, she had locked herself inside the Secretariat in protest.
This is a very serious situation and is worse than Emergency.Mamata Banerjee
Banerjee said the Army was deployed at two toll plazas at Palsit and Dankuni on NH-2 without informing the state government and described it as “unprecedented and a serious matter.”
Banerjee Locks Self in Office, BJP Calls Her Mentally Unstable
Banerjee announced her decision to stay inside the Secretariat and monitor the situation.
“I am the custodian of common people. So I can’t leave them. I will stay put here for the whole night and observe the situation,” she told reporters around 1:30 am.
Calling it is “an attack on the federal structure,” the CM has asked the Chief Secretary to write to the Centre for details.
“Given an opportunity, I will talk to the President on the issue. Has Emergency been imposed in the country without declaration?” she wanted to know.
Banerjee claimed that the people got panicky due to the deployment of Army at toll plazas. The Chief Minister has locked herself in the Secretariat in order to “protect her democracy” and will stay “all night long if needed”, according to Trinamool Congress leader Derek O’Brien.
Demanding to know whether a military coup has taken place, she said "the motive is political, vindictive, unconstitutional, unethical and undemocratic".
Besides the Chief Minister, a number of ministers and the Home Secretary, State Director General of Police, the Kolkata Police Commissioner were all camping at the Secretariat.
Reacting to the allegations of conspiracy by West Bengal Chief Minister, BJP’s Siddharth Nath Singh said, “Maverick Mamata is suffering from mental imbalance, which is why she is coming up with such conspiracy theories of threat to her life. I suggest TMC to take her to the hospital.”
Army to be Deployed Elsewhere On Friday, Says Defence CPRO
When contacted, a Defence spokesperson said that the army conducts bi-annual exercise throughout the country with the aim of getting statistical data about the load carriers that could be made available to the army in case of a contingency.
“There is nothing alarming about this and it is carried out as per government orders”, Wing Commander SS Birdi said.
The exercise gives an estimate about the number of vehicles passing through a certain area that could be tapped during operations, he said.
Banerjee and Kolkata Police refuted the Army’s Eastern Command’s assertion calling it “absolutely wrong” and has claimed that the Army is also present in different districts of the state.
Soon after Mamata’s allegations, the Defence CPRO issued a statement after midnight saying, “The requisite data has been gathered and Army has been asked to withdraw from specific point, would be deployed elsewhere tomorrow.”
TMC leader, Derek O’Brien said the required data is already available and vehicle checks cannot be carried out without authorisation.
(With inputs from agencies)
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