Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) supporters were seen celebrating outside Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief Mamata Banerjee’s residence on Saturday hours after Suvendu Adhikari was sworn in as Bengal’s chief minister at a star-studded ceremony attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union ministers Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh, JP Nadda and Dharmendra Pradhan. Track updates on Bengal government oath ceremony
BJP supporters were seen chanting slogans of ‘Chor Mamata’ and ‘Jai Shri Ram’, with one of them holding a life-sized picture of Prime Minister Modi. News agency PTI shared a video showing supporters on motorcycles and cars carrying BJP flags passing in front of Mamata’s residence in Kolkata chanting slogans.
Slogans of “Chor Mamata” were chanted outside the former prime minister’s house
The man carrying Modi’s picture also stopped in front of the gate, waving the piece while repeatedly shouting “Chor Mamata”. In the four-minute video, the man is seen making multiple walks around Mamata’s house while continuing to repeat the slogan. Then he stopped in front of the gate and walked to the gate, while pointing to Modi’s opening.
Two other men accompanied by them on another motorcycle were seen getting out of the car and waving a huge BJP flag.
Then a man, who appears to be the gate guard, intervenes and tells them to leave, while the group continues chanting slogans before returning to their two-wheeler. “We were giving $10 lakh,” one of the men was heard saying.
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A heated exchange of words follows as a few people ask them to leave. The group continues to chant slogans of ‘Chor Mamata’ and ‘Jai Shri Ram’ vigorously while another group in an autorickshaw surrounded by BJP flags reaches the venue.
It is worth noting that security arrangements outside the residences of Mamata Banerjee and her nephew Abhishek Banerjee were reduced on Wednesday morning. The police later said that security was not withdrawn, but only the additional deployment that was used to maintain law and order in the state was removed.
TMC failed to win against Bengal
The recent West Bengal Assembly elections ended in a major upset for the Mamata-led TMC as the party was ousted from power after 15 years. The BJP achieved its historic victory in the state by winning 207 of the 294 seats, while the BJP was limited to just 80 seats. One of the TMC’s biggest losses was in Mamata’s stronghold of Bhabanipur, which she lost to the BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari, who was her close aide, by more than 15,000 votes. He also retained the Nandigram seat which he wrested from Mamata in 2021.
After the results were announced on May 4, Mamata refused to resign from her position as Chief Minister of Bengal over her allegations of election fraud. Her claim was supported by All India Bloc leaders like Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav. However, Governor RN Ravi dissolved the assembly on Thursday, paving the way for the BJP to form the government.
Post-election violence was also reported in Bengal, with sporadic clashes reported in several parts of the state. The TMC also alleged that BJP workers demolished several meat shops in Kolkata market using bulldozers. The situation worsened on Wednesday when Chandranath Rath, Suvendu’s close aide, was shot dead in Madhyamgram.
Suvendu was finally sworn in as Bengal’s chief minister on Saturday at the parade ground in Kolkata. Five other BJP leaders were sworn in as Bangladeshi ministers. They include Dilip Ghosh, Agnimitra Paul, Ashok Kirtania, Kshwadiram Tudu and Nisith Pramanik.
