The West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee after spending the night at the secretriat, stayed put there demanding about the “withdrawal of the army” from the state and alleging it has been done by keeping her government “in the dark” on Friday.
Banerjee had said she would not leave till the army was withdrawn from there, and she accused the central government of “deploying the army” along a highway toll plaza at the second Hooghly Bridge about 500 metres from the secretariat “Nabanna” in neighbouring Howrah district.
She said, “I'll keep vigil to protect the democracy, to protect my democratically elected government.”
After midnight, the Eastern Command said it had already collected the data it required at the time of the army has been asked to withdraw from the toll plaza near Nabanna.
Mamata Banerjee in her third round of media conference since the evening repeated that, she would spend the night at Nabanna, fearing the army may be back.
She said, “The army has withdrawn from the second Hooghly Bridge after 2 a.m. They will definitely come back. After Nabanna, they have entered various districts. The army has been deployed in 80 per cent of the areas.”
She also said, “I'll remain awake all night to keep vigil. I will spend the night at Nabanna”
On the issue the Chief Minister of Mamata Banerjee held parleys with senior police officers and bureaucrats in the morning.
A pen-drive containing videos of the army activities at the second Hooghly bridge toll plaza has been forwarded to President Pranab Mukherjee, said the sources of Trinamool Congress.
This whole drama was unfolded on the evening of Thursday when Mamata Banerjee alleged the army has been deployed at the Dankuni and Palsit toll plazas on National Highway 2 (connecting Delhi and Kolkata) without informing the state government.
She said, for the clarification of the issue she would approach to the President and the Chief Secretary was writing to the Central government.
The Defense Ministry said on the issue that the army was only conducting its routine exercise with full knowledge of and co-ordination with West Bengal police.
A Defense Ministry spokeman said, “The army conducts the annual exercise throughout the country with the aim of getting statistical data about the load carriers that could be made available to the army in case of a contingency.”
On the spokesman’s clarification, Trinamool Congress chief tweeted, “Absolutely wrong and misleading facts by @easterncomd. We have great respect for you, but please please don't mislead the people.”
She said, she has collected informaton from Maharashtra, Kerala, Odisha and Chhattisgarh and nowhere such a thing was been done.
Mamata asked, claiming the army has been positioned in Jalpaiguri,Alipurdar, Darjeeling, North24 Parganas, Howrah, Hooghly, Kolkata, Murshidabad and Burdwan districts that, “Why is it been done in Bengal? Is it because I am speaking for the people.”
She also said, “The secretariat Nabanna' is a sensitive zone. The toll plaza on the second Hooghly Bridge is within the sensitive zone. It is under our secretariat.”
She demanded to know about whether the military coup has taken place and said, “The motive is political, vindictive, unconstitutional, unethical and undemocratic.”
She further added, “Even if the Army carried out a mock exercise, the state government should have been kept in the loop. If this is happening in a civil area in Bengal, this could happen in Bihar, next in Uttar Pradesh, then in Tamil Nadu and other states as well. It is a very serious situation and it is dangerous than Emergency. We are facing an extremely black day.” “I'll urge all state governments to look into the matter. A team of Opposition... all political leaders... will meet the President (soon).”
Whereas, the spokesman justified that the routine exercise was being carried out in all states of the eastern region.
The spokesman said, “Permission for carrying out this exercise in West Bengal was initially sought for November 28. On specific request of the police the date had been shifted to December 1. No permission has been withdrawn so far.”
After this, the Eastern command tweeted, “Routine exercise in all NE states. In Assam @ 18 places, Arunanchal@13, WB@19, Manipur@6, Nagaland@5, Meghalaya@5, Tripura & Mizoram.”
The leader of :Trinamool Congress Derek O'Brien termed “incorrect” the claim that the exercises were carried out in coordination with the police, in Rajya Sabha.
He tweeted on Friday that, “All respect for army, but must set record straight 1. Data is already available 2. Cannot do vehicle check, not authorised to do so. Saying exercise by @easterncomd was coordinated with the police is absolutely incorrect.”
On his twitter account, O’Brien said, “Also, troops were moved into districts even after midnight. Bengal Chief Minister kept watch from the Secretariat overnight. She is still there.”
The Chief Minister of West Bengal and the Chief of Trinamool Congress Mamata Banerjee is protesting against the demonetisation announcement by the government. While returning from Patna this incident happened.
--with agency inputs
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