Never seen anything like this in 25 years: Mamata Banerjee

KOLKATA: A day after she was gheraoed and her minister Amit Mitra manhandled by Left protesters in New Delhi, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today said she was "shocked and astonished" at the "unprecedented" incident.

"Politics has become so dirty and nasty. I have spent about 25 years in Delhi since my election as Member of Parliament in 1984. What I saw yesterday is totally unprecedented and I have no words to express my condemnation of this incident," she said in a Facebook post.

"I am really shocked and astonished to see the incident... in front of Planning Commission, a constitutional body which had invited us for finalisation of Annual Plan size for Bengal," Banerjee said. The chief minister, however, thanked media and common people for showing concern about them.

Banerjee and Mitra had gone to Planning Commission office in New Delhi to discuss the state's annual plans yesterday, where they were gheraoed and heckled by SFI activists protesting against the death of one of their colleagues in police custody here last week.