Detention of Bengal BJP chief, London-based physician sparks political row

Union minister and West Bengal BJP chief Sukanta Majumdar had visited the residence of UK-based physician Rajatshubhra Bandyopadhyay on Harish Mukherjee Road in Kolkata when the incident passed off.

The concern comes towards the backdrop of Dr Bandyopadhyay’s ‘Kellogg College Lecture’ controversy with West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, which passed off in March.

The now-viral confrontation noticed the physician asking Mamata Banerjee to call a single main trade that had come to Bengal throughout her tenure. The query triggered such chaos that college safety was pressured to intervene.

Bandyopadhyay, a British passport holder together with his origin in South Kolkata, was later launched by the police.

However, with the duo’s detention, the BJP accused the Mamata Banerjee-led authorities of utilizing the police to “muzzle dissent” and “criminalise symbolic gestures”.

In a publish on X, the saffron get together’s state unit posted raised concern over the “alarming” state of affairs in Bengal, the place “even a Union Minister is denied the essential courtesy of assembly a revered physician! What could possibly be a extra surprising instance of lawlessness and political vendetta!”

As Majumdar’s convoy neared the physician’s residence, police intercepted it and allegedly claimed that Bandyopadhyay was “not at home”.

“But the truth is, the doctor was very much at home and waited for over an hour to meet Dr. Sukanta Majumdar,” the BJP said.

The physician later stepped out of the residential complicated and met the West Bengal BJP chief on the facet of the street. Their interplay was minimize quick by the police, who detained each of them with out “giving any reason”, the get together stated.

Police took each Majumdar and the physician to the town headquarters at Lalbazar, at the same time as get together employees tried to withstand.

While being escorted right into a police van, Majumdar instructed reporters, “For what reason have we been detained? I have no clue. Nowhere in the world does something like this happen.”

Meanwhile, after being launched, Bandyopadhyay spoke to reporters as nicely and stated, “Is this the way to treat a British citizen? What crime have I committed? Is it a crime to meet a Union minister in Bengal? The police need to answer on what grounds I was picked up like a criminal.”

The BJP state unit stated that this was a “clear demonstration” of CM Mamata Banerjee “wants to silence every voice being raised”.

BJP chief Sourav Sikdar described the detention as nothing wanting “state-sponsored goondaism”.

“They are scared of a doctor who asked questions and a minister who came to meet him. The state is weaponizing the police,” he claimed.

Meanwhile, the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress defended the police’s motion and accused the BJP of “stage-managing provocations”.

“The BJP is creating deliberate provocations in sensitive areas. The doctor in question has a track record of inciting controversies. The police acted in accordance with law to ensure peace,” stated TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh.