‘Bulldozers cannot silence me’: Abhishek Banerjee defiant after demolition outside residence

Kolkata, Nov 12 (SocialNews.XYZ) Mamata-Trinamool Congress General Secretary and Diamond Harbour MP Abhishek Banerjee on Thursday vowed to continue his political fight against the Bharatiya Janata Party-led West Bengal government, declaring that no bulldozer could silence him, even as the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) demolished three structures allegedly encroaching on footpaths outside his residence in Kolkata's Kalighat.

"No number of bulldozers can silence my voice or break my resolve. I will continue my fight against the Bangla Birodhis. I will neither retreat nor budge an inch until my last breath," he said in a social media post, shortly after the demolition drive was completed.

The operation assisted by the Kolkata Police began on Thursday morning, with a makeshift bamboo structure outside the residence being razed first.

The structure had reportedly been used as a seating arrangement for security personnel when Abhishek Banerjee enjoyed Z-plus security cover provided by the state government during the previous Trinamool Congress government led by his aunt and former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

An iron gate outside the residence, which also allegedly encroached on the footpath, was subsequently demolished.

A Trinamool Congress Martyrs' Memorial, constructed with concrete and iron beams, was also razed as part of the operation. All three structures were brought down using a bulldozer.

The removal of the bamboo shed had initially been undertaken by Trinamool workers on Wednesday evening.

However, the exercise remained incomplete until KMC personnel, accompanied by police officers and a bulldozer, arrived at the spot on Thursday morning and completed the demolition.

The temporary shed had become a subject of controversy over the past few days.

Tensions had flared in Kalighat during the intervening night of November 6 and 7, when a large gathering assembled outside Abhishek Banerjee's residence for his birthday celebrations. Several people were seen taking shelter under the temporary structure.

The presence of the shed subsequently drew objections from local residents, who reportedly complained that the construction was obstructing pedestrian movement on the footpath.

The demolition drive also came a day after Abhishek Banerjee accused the Kolkata Police of keeping his residence under constant surveillance and snooping on him.

In a social media post on Wednesday, the Mamata-Trinamool Congress leader had questioned the police surveillance arrangements around his residence.

Soon after this social media post, party workers began dismantling the bamboo structure.

The KMC-led operation on Thursday, however, extended beyond the shed to include the iron gate and the party's memorial.

Abhishek Banerjee's remarks following the demolition indicated that he viewed the action as part of the continuing political confrontation with the BJP government in the state.

-- IANS

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Source: IANS