In the past, whenever Mamata Banerjee staged any protest, the party's MLAs and MPs would rush in to join her. Even when the Trinamool Congress staged a protest against the SIR just a few months prior to the elections, all the leaders were seen present there. It is true that the party has lost power in the recently concluded Assembly polls, however, the TMC still retains 78 MLAs (two of whom—Ritabrata Banerjee and Sandipan Saha—have recently been expelled). Combined, the party holds 41 seats in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. Yet, on the protest stage, only 5 MPs and a handful of MLAs were seen alongside Mamata.
How many MPs were present with Mamata during dharn?
MLAs Nayna Das Banerjee, Madan Mitra, Firhad Hakim, Biman Banerjee, Ashok Deb, and Sovandeb Chattopadhyay were present at Mamata's protest site (located at the old bus stand near the 'Y-Channel'). The MPs in attendance were Derek O'Brien, Samirul Islam, Dola Sen, Mala Roy, and Kalyan Banerjee. This was the scene observed among the MPs and MLAs today.
Among the defeated candidates, Chandrima Bhattacharya, Akhil Giri, and Tanmoy Ghosh were seated beside Mamata. Additionally, municipal representatives—including Baishwanor Chatterjee, Krishna Chakraborty, and Swapan Samaddar—were present.
Mamata begins day-long sit-in in Kolkata to protest against post-poll attacks
Earlier in the day, Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee started her day-long sit-in in central Kolkata to protest against alleged post-poll attacks on party workers and leaders following the BJP's victory in recent assembly elections.
She reached the dharna site at Esplanade's Y-channel after the TMC's appeal to hold the protest at the adjacent Rani Rashmoni Road was turned down by the Kolkata Police. "We were not given permission to set up a stage or use microphones," Banerjee said, while addressing the crowd using a megaphone.
Mamata alleges BJP "rigged" counting in 177 of the 294 seats
Mamata alleged that the BJP "rigged" counting in 177 of the 294 seats, which went for polls to win the recently concluded West Bengal elections. She asserted that she would not abandon TMC workers in "these difficult times", referring to large-scale arrests of leaders on charges of corruption, intimidation and extortion, and the alleged torture of party workers after the TMC's defeat in the recent assembly polls.
Addressing TMC supporters at a day-long dharna in central Kolkata to protest against alleged post-poll attacks on party workers and leaders following the BJP's victory in recent assembly elections, Banerjee said anti-BJP parties would soon formulate a country-wide opposition programme.
"Very soon, all anti-BJP parties will meet in Delhi. Wait for a few days and we will soon announce our country-wide course of action," the TMC chief said, referring to the scheduled INDIA bloc meeting next week.
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