KOLKATA: A group of BJP workers on Tuesday demonstrated before Raj Bhavan here to demand the imposition of President's Rule in the state citing the "collapse of law and order" in the state.
About 20 demonstrators, led by BJP leader and councillor of Kolkata Municipal Corporation Sajal Ghosh, raised slogans 'ei Trinamool aar noy' (not this TMC-run government anymore), obilombe Rastrapatir Sashon jari korte hobey'(demand immediate imposition of President's Rule), and also tried to squat on the road in front of the Main Gate of the Raj Bhavan before they were removed from the spot.
The activists staged the agitation in front of the Raj Bhavan despite the issuance of Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code in the high-security area.
"From Anis Khan murder to the incident at Bogtui where nine people were burnt to death, gang rape and death of a 14-year- old girl in Hanskhali to the attack on Ram Navami processionists in Howrah, this government under Mamata Banerjee has miserably failed to prevent such incidents," Ghosh claimed.
Demanding Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar's intervention, Ghosh said "Article 365 should be immediately promulgated in West Bengal to put an end to this lawlessness".
Under Article 365 of the Constitution, if a state government is unable to function according to Constitutional provisions, the Centre can take direct control of the State machinery.
A police officer said around 20 BJP activists were taken to Lalbazar, Kolkata Police headquarters, for violating prohibitory orders. They were, however, released on personal bond.
Trinamool Congress state spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said "the BJP is yet to accept its humiliating defeat in the last assembly polls and is now conspiring against a democratically elected government." However, the game plan of the saffron party will not succeed, he added.