Opposition leaders hit out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday, 3 May, after the party gave a call for a “nationwide dharna” on Wednesday, 5 May, against “widespread violence” allegedly unleashed by the Trinamool Congress (TMC) after its victory in the West Bengal Assembly elections.
The TMC however rejected the allegation and said that one of its workers was killed in Burdwan. The protest call is for the same day that Mamata Banerjee is expected to take oath again as Chief Minister.
The BJP announced the protest call through a tweet, and said that the protest will be held following all COVID protocols across all organisation mandals of the BJP.
Opposition Leaders React to BJP’s Nationwide Dharna Call
Several Opposition leaders hit out at BJP’s call for the nationwide dharna, including Shiv Sena MP Chaturvedi, TMC leader Mahua Moitra, and Congress MP Jairam Ramesh.
Chaturvedi took a dig at the protest call and said, “Yes, we need super spreader dharna events across the nation...”
Moitra said in a tweet, “Indians may just hold nationwide dharna against death and devastation unleashed by your incompetence.”
Another tweet by BJP’s official handle said that President of BJP, JP Nadda, will be visiting West Bengal to meet the families of affected karyakartas on 4 and 5 May, “in view of the wide spread post results retributive violence unleashed on BJP workers and supporters by criminal elements in the TMC cadre”.
Speaking against the violence, Mamata Banerjee appealed for peace and accused the BJP of “spreading lies using old pictures of riots that did not take place in Bengal”.
COVID Situation in India
India on Monday, reported 3,68,147 new coronavirus cases, taking the tally in the country to 1,99,25,604. The death toll increased by 3,417 to 2,18,959.
According to the Union Health Ministry data, there are currently 34,13,642 active cases across the country, while 1,62,93,003 patients have been discharged, with 3,00,732 discharges reported in the last 24 hours.
Meanwhile, as many as 24 patients, including those who had contracted COVID-19, have died at the Chamarajanagar District Hospital in 24 hours allegedly due to oxygen shortage.
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