Outrage in West Bengal over Congress leader’s arrest soon after TMC loses stronghold: Here’s what happened
The arrest took place two days after Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress (TMC) lost the Sagardighi by-election in Murshidabad district.
Koustav Bagchi, a Congress leader and lawyer, was taken into custody by the Kolkata police on March 4 after allegedly making derogatory comments about West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. The police arrived at Bagchi's residence at around 3 AM on March 4, and he was taken into custody following a heated argument.
The Congress and Left coalition parties have expressed their support for Bagchi after his arrest, with the Pradesh Congress and the Left condemning it and announcing plans for a national-level protest.
The arrest took place just two days after the Trinamool Congress (TMC) lost the Sagardighi by-election in Murshidabad district, with the Congress-backed Left candidate winning the seat, which had been a TMC stronghold for the past 13 years.
According to an officer at the Burtolla police station in north Kolkata, Bagchi was arrested under several sections, including criminal conspiracy, provocation to cause a riot, sexual harassment, intentional insult, statements conducing to public mischief, criminal intimidation, and insult to the modesty of a woman.
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On March 2, after the election results were announced, Banerjee criticised Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, the West Bengal Congress President, and leader of the Congress party in the Lok Sabha. She made some comments about his daughter's suicide and driver's murder, indicating that she knew something about these incidents.
On March 3, Bagchi stepped up his attack on Banerjee, reading out some excerpts from a book written by Dipak Ghosh, a former bureaucrat and once a trusted aide of Banerjee. The book deals with the TMC supremo's personal life. Bagchi stated that copies of the book would be shared at a press conference.
The book in question is written by Ghosh and is titled: Mamata Banerjee as I Have Known Her. It is alternatively titled as The Goddess That Failed. In the controversial book, Ghosh made a number of allegations, including the one that accused Banerjee of hiding the fact that she had been married.
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Bagchi stated that the arrest was illegal and claimed that Banerjee was afraid. He also said that the TMC had become politically insolvent and that they would see her in court and fight it out on the streets.
In response, TMC minister Partha Bhowmick accused Bagchi of insulting his own mother with his derogatory remarks and suggested that he was trying to stay relevant within the Congress party.
The incident sparked a political uproar in West Bengal, where the crucial panchayat polls are expected to be held in the coming months. Chowdhury has criticised the TMC's policies, saying that no one is allowed to speak out against the chief minister under the TMC rule. CPI(M) MP and senior lawyer Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya also condemned the arrest and called for legal and political action.
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