Kolkata, Aug 28 (IANS) The Trinamool Congress’ Lok Sabha leader Abhishek Banerjee on Thursday said that it was his party MPs who forced Union Home Minister Amit Shah to sit in the fourth row and present the 130th Constitutional Amendment Bill in Parliament.
Addressing the foundation day event of his party’s student wing Trinamool Chhatra Parishad (TMCP), Banerjee said, “They brought a Bill to change the Constitution at midnight thinking they will pass it. They thought the country is their property and they can do away with anything. It was only our 28 MPs who came down to the Well of Parliament and protested against it. We forced Amit Shah to sit in the fourth row and introduce the Bill. He could not sit in the first row and introduce the Bill. This is the TMC’s power.”
The Trinamool’s All-India General Secretary once again attacked the BJP government at the Centre, accusing it of using the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls to select voters instead of letting people elect governments.
“Earlier, voters used to elect a government, but now the BJP is selecting voters through the undemocratic SIR process. Our fight against this will continue if the BJP dares to delete a single legitimate voter in West Bengal. We will hit the streets of Delhi in protest. The BJP cannot win West Bengal democratically, so they are trying to tamper with the voters’ list,” said Banerjee.
He further said that the Trinamool will win more seats in the 2026 Assembly elections than it had won in 2021 and claimed that the BJP will not be able to cross 50 seats in Bengal.
“I assure you that the mandate in the 2026 polls will be bigger than 2021. Everyone is against the All India Trinamool Congress: A section of the judiciary, BJP and its central agencies. But the 10 crore people of Bengal are with us. If the BJP has the strength, let them try to cross 50 seats in Bengal this time,” he said.
Banerjee also slammed the Centre for not clearing the Trinamool’s proposed Aparajita Bill for women’s safety.
“We had brought Aparajita Bill to ensure women’s security but the Centre is deliberately sitting on it. This shows their double standards when it comes to ensuring women’s safety,” he said.
On September 3, 2024, the West Bengal Legislative Assembly had unanimously passed the Aparajita Bill, introducing stringent punishment in cases involving sexual assault. The Bill was sent to President Droupadi Murmu by West Bengal Governor C.V. Ananda Bose on September 6, 2024.
The legislation, which was passed 25 days after the rape and murder of a doctor at R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata, provides for the death penalty in five categories of offences — rape, rape by a police officer or public servant, rape causing death or resulting in a persistent vegetative state, gang rape, and repeat offenders.
Raising concerns over the death penalty provisions in The Aparajita Woman and Child (West Bengal Criminal Laws Amendment) Bill, 2024, West Bengal Governor C.V. Ananda Bose last month returned the legislation to the State government for further consideration.
Speaking at the event on Mayo Road, Abhishek Banerjee said, “Last year at this time, there was a sensation over the RG Kar case. At that time, Mamata Banerjee’s Kolkata Police took action within just 24 hours. But today, a year has passed, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s CBI has done nothing. The intention of those who occupied the night in protest was not just to protest this incident, but to destroy the health system of Bengal. Why aren’t there protests against those who blocked this Bill? Why didn’t they take to the streets?”
–IANS
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