New Delhi: West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra was heckled and manhandled by Left activists outside the planning commission office in the heart of New Delhi today. Mamata Banerjee, who was with him, was heard saying angrily, "They are hooligans...This is dirty politics." The Bengal Chief Minister has alleged that she too was heckled.
Later, addressing the media, she said "They had an iron rod, tried to hit me with it... They can kill me but they cannot stop me."
A stunned Mr Mitra, 62, was at a loss for words as he described how women activists attacked him with sticks used to beat drums and pointed to where his kurta was torn. The minister said his attackers even attempted to take his wallet away. (
Watch the video here)Mr Mitra and Ms Banerjee were entering Yojana Bhawan, which houses the planning commission office to meet the panel's chief Montek Singh Ahluwalia, when the Student Federation of India (SFI) activists surrounded Mr Mitra, shouting angrily and pushing him.
Policemen deployed at Yojana Bhawan did not come to Mr Mitra's aid as he was heckled. The police later said that about 100 protesters had been allowed to gather but not at the gate that the Bengal leaders were to use. The Trinamool Congress (TMC), they said, is yet to lodge a police complaint and no arrests have been made so far.
The SFI, however, says they did not heckle Mr Mitra. "SFI has not manhandled anybody. It was a democratic protest. SFO protesters have gathered here, democratically they have protested," said Ritubrata Banerjee, SFI Leader.
Ms Banerjee's party, the TMC, says they will hold a condemnation rally in Kolkata tomorrow.
The SFI, which is the student's wing of the CPI(M), is protesting against the death of a student leader in Kolkata last week. It has alleged that Sudipta Gupta died because he was beaten repeatedly on the head by the police when it arrested a group of activists protesting against Ms Banerjee's decision to postpone college union elections. Ms Banerjee has backed the police, which says the activist hit his head on a lamp-post when he fell out of a bus that was meant to move the arrested students to prison.
(Kolkata student leader's death: It's a 'petty matter', says Mamata Banerjee)Ms Banerjee is in Delhi today to ask the Centre for financial help for her state, which is deeply in debt. She is expected to meet the Prime Minister this evening.