BJP takes out rally demanding resignation of Mamata Banerjee

KOLKATA: The BJP in West Bengal today organised a rally on the Narada issue and demanded resignation of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, saying she has lost the moral right to continue in office "as she tried to defend the tainted ministers and her party leaders".

"We feel that not only the 'tainted ministers' but the chief minister herself should resign as she has been trying to defend those who were allegedly caught on camera taking money. It is a matter of shame for all of us," state BJP chief Dilip Ghosh, who led the rally, said.

He said that Banerjee had lost her moral right to continue in office as "people of Bengal can no longer trust the state government whose ministers were seen in the Narada sting video. Never before people of this state had seen such a corrupt government," he alleged.

BJP workers carried placards demanding arrest of the 'tainted ministers and leaders' and burnt effigies of Banerjee and her party colleagues.

The rally started from college square in central Kolkata and ended at Esplanade. While marching towards Raj Bhavan the BJP workers managed to break two barricades after which the police stopped them.

A few BJP workers, however, managed to cross the third barricade and sat on a dharna on the busy road at the Esplanade crossing causing traffic snarls. They lifted the dharna after about 20 minutes.