On Saturday morning, Kolkata police took into custody Koustav Bagchi, a Congress leader and advocate in West Bengal, for supposedly criticizing Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s “personal attack” on Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, the state Congress president. Bagchi serves as one of the Congress spokespersons in the region.
“The chief minister is afraid, that is my political win,” Bagchi said on Saturday.
Following a press conference held by Bagchi on Friday to refute Banerjee’s comment on Chowdhury after the Congress’s victory in the Sagardighi bypoll, an FIR was lodged against Bagchi at the Burtolla police station.
In response to the chief minister’s personal attack on Chowdhury, in which she referenced his daughter’s death on Thursday, Bagchi called a press conference on Friday. During the conference, he cited Dipak Ghosh’s book, a critical commentary on the Trinamool Congress (TMC), a former TMC MLA and IAS officer. “If the TMC persists in making personal attacks, we will also use this book to counterattack the chief minister personally,” he declared.
Several sections of the Indian Penal Code were invoked in the FIR, including charges of criminal conspiracy, provocation with intent to cause a riot, and intentional insult.
The arrest of Bagchi was denounced by opposition parties in the state, with Chowdhury stating, “It demonstrates that the chief minister is fearful of opposition… She is behaving like a dictator. We will take any measures necessary to secure Bagchi’s release.”
CPI(M) leader Sujan Chakraborty expressed his disapproval of the incident, stating, “Is this what we call democracy? We are at a loss for words to condemn this attack. This government is autocratic in nature.”
On the other hand, TMC leader Partha Bhowmik stated, “He (Bagchi) should apologise to the chief minister.”
A group of advocates and Congress supporters gathered outside the Burtolla police station, with advocate Sabyasachi Banerjee vowing to “fight this arrest.”
