KOLKATA: Commuting on Kolkata's streets may be a tough exercise Saturday, with political parties deciding to hit the roads following the arrest of Transport and Sports Minister Madan Mitra in connection with the Saradha scam.
Railing against Mitra's arrest by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for his alleged role in the multi-crore-rupee chit fund scandal, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced that her party Trinamool Congress would hold a protest rally where sportspersons will be present.
"Sportspersons will protest. Because Madan Mitra has run the sports department really well," she said.
The rally will be organised at 1 p.m. at the base of the statue of legendary footballer Gostho Pal in central Kolkata's Maidan area.
On the other hand, the opposition Left Front has decided to hold a rally at 2.30 p.m. from the feet of the Lenin statue to Moulali to press for a three-point charter of demands including the grilling of Banerjee by the CBI in relation to the scam.
"Banerjee knows everything about the scandal, but she tried to brush it under the carpet with the Special Investigation Team of the state police probing the scam," said Communist Party of India-Marxist state secretariat member Sujon Chakraborty.
"We also demand the arrest of all culprits, and all arrangements made to return the money to those who lost their savings by parking their hard-earned money in ponzi schemes," he said.
Similar protests will be held across the state, he said.