Narendra Modi; Mamata Banerjee
NEW DELHI: Taking a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, former West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday claimed that the prime minister “turned his car around and drove away” as a section of CJP protesters neared the Parliament complex during their march a day earlier.”You saw what happened in Delhi yesterday, atrocity committed against students,” she said, adding, “I heard from Parliament that the PM turned his car around and drove away.” Banerjee also said she would join the CJP protest if needed.The CJP, an online satirical movement that emerged after Chief Justice of India Surya Kant’s alleged “cockroaches” remark about unemployed youth, has been protesting at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar—the capital’s designated protest site—since June 21.The group is demanding the resignation of Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the NEET (UG) paper leak, the CBSE online marking controversy, and other education-related issues.The protest intensified on July 18 when Delhi Police, in an early morning operation, removed activist Sonam Wangchuk, who had been on a hunger strike at the CJP protest site since June 28. Wangchuk was taken to the state-run Safdarjung Hospital, with his family and supporters alleging that the move was aimed at keeping him under watch and preventing him from participating in the CJP’s “Chalo Sansad” march to Parliament on July 20. The march went ahead as planned but later turned violent, with protesters and police clashing at several locations across Delhi.According to Delhi Police, 118 personnel were injured in the violence, while 60 protesters also sustained injuries.
