DA crisis: Area near Bengal CM’s house under blanket of security cover over protesters’ rally

Kolkata:  The entire area of 500-meter radius near the residences of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Trinamool Congress national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee has been wrapped under a blanket of security cover since Saturday morning over the protest rally of the state government employees.

The employees have been demanding the payment of enhanced dearness allowance and arrears.

City police sources said that forces from all the divisions of Kolkata Police have been deputed to the area and all precautionary measures adopted to prevent any untoward incident during the rally that will pass through this high security zone.

Meanwhile, Bhaskar Ghosh, convenor of the Joint Forum of State Government Employees, the organiser of the Saturday’s rally, has assured that the protest rally and the following public meeting at the Hazra Crossing will be totally peaceful.

“Our goal is to get our legitimate demands for enhanced dearness allowance at par with the central government and arrears accrued on it to be fulfilled. “We got permission from the Calcutta High Court to conduct this rally and meeting. For the last 11 years there has not been a single rally through this route. We are the first ones to do that. In that way it is our achievement. We went to the state secretariat for an appointment with the chief minister. But, we were denied the appointment,” Ghosh said.

On Saturday, the protesters before the beginning of the rally displayed a unique show of protest, where the effigy of a human body with the poster — ‘The conscience of West Bengal government’ — placed on a cremation cot.

Initially, the state administration refused permission to the rally through this route on security grounds. The joint forum approached the Calcutta High Court against this denial. Finally on May 4, a single- judge bench of Justice Mantha allowed the rally through the route on conditions that the rally should be peaceful and no provocative statement should be uttered from the rally.

–IANS