Kolkata: Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee said on Monday that the party will stage a sit-in in Kolkata on June 2 to protest alleged attacks on its members and the Railways’ hawker eviction drive, despite police refusing permission.
“If we are not allowed to hold a dharna there, I will sit wherever I am stopped. I am ready to be arrested,” Banerjee said, reaffirming the party’s intent to hold the demonstration without official approval. She told PTI the protest would proceed “even without police permission, microphones or a stage,” and cautioned that if Kolkata authorities blocked the action, the TMC would escalate its agitation to Delhi.
Banerjee accused the state administration and the ruling BJP of suppressing democratic expression, saying police had refused permission for the planned dharna in central Kolkata. She cited grievances including hawker evictions, alleged assaults on party workers, and reported irregularities in the NEET examination as grounds for the sit-in.
The TMC leader alleged a campaign of violence and intimidation since the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections, saying 12 TMC workers had been killed, thousands of activists arrested, and many others forced to leave their homes.
Claims Of Attacks & Evictions
She criticised the eviction drive targeting street vendors, saying small traders and ordinary citizens were living in fear and that hawkers were being removed without a proper rehabilitation plan. Banerjee also accused authorities of misusing institutions and administrative measures, including the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls, to intimidate opposition supporters.
Defections Blamed On BJP; Abhishek Targeted
Facing internal turmoil, Banerjee blamed the BJP for orchestrating defections from the TMC using “money and power” after two MLAs were expelled for alleged anti-party activity and reports surfaced of other leaders being in touch with the BJP. She argued that those leaving for personal gain would indirectly help rebuild the party and that the TMC would emerge stronger.
A meeting of TMC MLAs at Banerjee’s residence was cancelled on Monday after only 20 of the party’s 80 legislators attended, reflecting the present unrest within the organisation.
Targeting defectors, Banerjee said several leaders who had held positions for years were switching sides to protect personal interests.
On her nephew Abhishek Banerjee, the TMC national general secretary, she said some leaders had made it clear they would return only if he were removed from the party’s leadership: “I know these people very well. Those who have no ideology or principles cannot dictate terms to us,” she said. She alleged the BJP was singling out Abhishek because of his rising influence and claimed he had recently been denied proper medical treatment after being attacked.
Abhishek Banerjee was reportedly roughed up in Sonarpur, on the southern outskirts of Kolkata, on Saturday when an angry crowd pelted him with eggs and stones as he visited the family of a TMC worker who was allegedly killed in post-poll violence.
“Police are being used to threaten MLAs and force local representatives to resign. This is not democracy,” Banerjee said, accusing the administration of coercion. She added that the BJP was seeking to use administrative measures such as the SIR of electoral rolls to intimidate opposition supporters and that democratic institutions were being misapplied.
The BJP has not issued a response to the allegations.
