TMC General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee and several other party leaders were detained on Tuesday night as they held a dharna at the Union Rural Development Ministry office here demanding a meeting with the Minister and released around three hours later. Abhishek Banerjee alleged that TMC leaders, including women, were “manhandled” by Delhi Police. They were pulled by their hair and dragged out, he claimed. “Today is a black day for Indian democracy,” he said.

 

In a post on X, TMC President and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said Tuesday’s events revealed the BJP’s “disdain” for the people of the State. The development came as the tug-of-war between the Centre and the West Bengal Government over the release of funds to the State intensified with the TMC holding protests in the national capital for the second consecutive day. Abhishek Banerjee, along with party lawmakers, State Ministers and supporters including MGNREGA workers, protested at Jantar Mantar here, a day after they held a two-hour sit-in at the Rajghat on Mahatma Gandhi’s birth anniversary before being evicted by the police. They later took out a march to the Rural Development Ministry at the Krishi Bhawan, where they had an appointment with Minister of State Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti.