‘Stand Shoulder to Shoulder’: Opposition Backs Mamata Over CBI Row

Opposition leaders including Rahul Gandhi, Arvind Kejriwal, Chandrababu Naidu & Deve Gowda extended their support.

Opposition leaders, including Congress President Rahul Gandhi, extended their support to West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee.

(Photo courtesy: PTI)

Opposition parties on Sunday, 3 February, expressed solidarity with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who began a sit-in protest over the CBI's attempt to question the Kolkata Police chief in connection with chit fund scams.

Congress President Rahul Gandhi called up Banerjee and extended support to her, stating that his party would stand shoulder to shoulder with the TMC chief, who is on an indefinite dharna.

Rahul Gandhi alleged the events in West Bengal were part of an unrelenting attack on India's institutions by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government.

"The entire Opposition will stand together & defeat these fascist forces," he tweeted on Sunday.

Catch all the live updates on the CBI vs TMC crisis here.

Banerjee, one of the prime forces behind the effort to cobble together an anti-BJP alliance ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, claimed the CBI knocked on the doors of Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar without a search warrant.

She asked all Opposition parties to unite to bring down the Modi government and, in a rare exhortation by a political leader, called upon personnel of security forces of the Centre and states, besides the Army, to "condemn" the attitude of the Modi government.

West Bengal Crisis an Election Gift From Modi to Mamata: Kanimozhi

DMK’s Kanimozhi met the TMC supremo in Kolkata on Monday, 4 February, and extended her support. During her address to the media, Kanimozhi said the crisis in West Bengal was an “election gift from Modi to Mamata.”

Apart from Kanimozhi, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav went to the protest site in Kolkata and said:

“Everyone knows what Mamata Di is capable of. Last time when we were in West Bengal, Opposition parties were united and Modi ji was scared because she (Mamata) fought against divisive forces.”

A day before, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had expressed solidarity with his Bengal counterpart and taken a swipe at the Modi-Shah duo, alleging that their “action” was “bizarre.”

‘WB Crisis Like Emergency:’ Former PM Deve Gowda

Former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda said, he was “shocked” and drew comparison between the situation in West Bengal and the Emergency period.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister M Chandrababu Naidu said that this is a tactic from the Modi government as it’s losing all hope.

‘Independence of Every Institution Compromised’

DMK President MK Stalin also extended support to the WB chief minister, tweeting that the independence of every institution has been compromised under the BJP-led NDA government.

‘Democracy in Danger,’ Lalu Prasad

"They cannot act at the behest of any political party or any extra constitutional authority." Rashtriya Janata Dal President Lalu Prasad said the Constitution and constitutional institutions in the country were facing an "unprecedented crisis" and alleged there were "attempts to plunge the country into a civil war".

"It is the greatest danger to democracy," Prasad tweeted in Hindi.

Misuse of CBI an Assault on Democracy, Says Pawar

Former Maharashtra chief minister and NCP president Sharad Pawar wrote on the micro-blogging site, that the “misuse of CBI” was an “assault on democracy.”

National Conference leader and former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah also threw his weight behind Banerjee, saying the use of the agency as a political tool has crossed all limits.