Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is sitting on a dharna or a sit-down protest in central Kolkata to "save the constitution" after a huge showdown between the police and officials of the Central Bureau of Investigation on Sunday evening. The CBI officers wanted to question Kolkata police chief Rajeev Kumar over two Ponzi schemes, but the CBI officials who turned up at Mr Kumar's home were taken to a local police station and allegedly detained. "There is total constitutional breakdown. It is my job to protect my officers," the Chief Minister told reporters in the evening. "They (the BJP) cannot fight is politically. That's why they are resorting to all this... Mr (Ajit) Doval is doing whatever PM wants him to do, he is the one giving all the instructions to CBI," she said.
Trinamool leader Derek O'Brien alleged that the BJP was planning a "constitutional coup." Opposition leaders have also spoken out in support of Ms Banerjee, with RJD chief Tejashwi Yadav saying the state government had to take the move due to "political decisions" the CBI had been taking at the BJP's behest. Former BJP leader Yashwant Sinha also slammed the centre for the showdown in Kolkata. Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi also criticized the CBI's ation.
The CBI officers, who were released later, are planning to meet the Governor. Ms Banerjee is sitting on dharna at the designated spot for protests in Central Kolkata, accompanied by Kolkata police chief Rajeev Kumar.
Here are the highlights on the Kolkata Police-CBI clash and Mamata Banerjee's dharna:
Feb 04, 2019 02:19 (IST)
Asked a little while ago by NDTV how long she plans to stay on the dharna, Mamata Banerjee gave a non-committal shrug. She seems to be in it for the long haul and is now taking rest on a bed that has been brought on the makeshift stage at the protest venue.
Feb 04, 2019 01:54 (IST)
Mamata Banerjee urges crowds to be quiet, asks them to go home
Feb 04, 2019 01:18 (IST)
NDTV's Monideepa Banerjie reports that this dharna is not something new for West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, the firebrand leader whose confrontational politics has defined her career. In 2006, she went on a 25-day hunger strike at this very spot, while protesting against the then Left Front government's allocation of farm land for a Tata Motors project in West Bengal's Singur.
Feb 04, 2019 00:56 (IST)
At 1 AM, huge public presence at the protest site, with floodlights put on and a shamiana being raised
Feb 04, 2019 00:40 (IST)
Trinamool Congress workers are staging a "rail roko" protest in West Bengal's Rishra over the ongoing CBI issue
Feb 04, 2019 00:38 (IST)
"CBI has got to do its job or not? When CBI does it, it's political vendetta, when it doesn't do it, it's caged parrot. Let them make up their minds," Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said earlier in the day
Feb 03, 2019 23:23 (IST)
Pankaj Srivastava said that Rajeev Kumar was not cooperating with the CBI in the case
Feb 03, 2019 23:23 (IST)
"We did not need any court order to go to police commissioner's residence," CBI Joint Director Pankaj Srivastava told NDTV. "We are investigating under the directions of the Supreme Court," he added.
