Mamata Banerjee said she and TMC leaders were detained by Delhi police on Saturday. They were stopped from reaching a Jantar Mantar protest and taken away in a prison van. "They removed us, forcibly taking us away in a prison van, as if we were wanted criminals," she said.
Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief Mamata Banerjee on Saturday recounted her alleged ordeal in police detention in Delhi, claiming that she and other party leaders were forcibly taken away in a prison van and driven around for nearly two hours after being stopped from proceeding to Jantar Mantar.
"They removed us, forcibly taking us away in a prison van, as if we were wanted criminals. I have never experienced anything like this -- being arrested and put into a police van. They drove us around for two hours," she claimed.
Banerjee said the incident had taken place when they were attempting to join a protest called by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and alleged irregularities in electoral rolls.
Narrating the sequence of events, Banerjee said she had decided to attend the programme after receiving repeated invitations from CJP organiser Abhijeet Dipke. She said she had previously been unable to attend and wanted to extend support to the protesters during her visit to the national capital.
The former West Bengal CM said she and her colleagues first asked police personnel stationed outside their residence whether they would be permitted to travel to Jantar Mantar.
According to her, the police told them they would not be allowed to proceed and would be stopped along the way.
The TMC leaders subsequently staged a sit-in at a bus stop on South Avenue, near the party's Delhi office, after allegedly being denied permission to move towards the protest venue, around five kilometres away.
"We were sitting at the bus stand in front of our house because we weren't being allowed to pass; we had come to show support... Then the police force arrived and said that not even three people could stay together. We sat there, keeping a distance between our groups of three," she added.
Explaining the decision to stage the dharna, Banerjee said their intention was to support the protesters if their cause was genuine.
However, she claimed that within a minute, police personnel removed them from the spot and took them away in a prison van.
"We went to one police station, then another, and another; at each one, they said there was no space. Eventually, we felt like we were being kidnapped," Banerjee said, describing the experience as deeply distressing.
She questioned the restrictions imposed on peaceful protesters and the media covering the developments.
"If people aren't allowed to walk, sit, or even have the media cover the event, then who is this democracy for?" she asked.
Banerjee described the situation in the national capital as having gone "beyond an Emergency", calling it a "Super Emergency".
She said the police action was neither right for the country nor its people, adding that such measures would only increase public support for the movement.
The TMC chief was detained along with party leaders Derek O'Brien, Dola Sen, Samirul Islam, Pratima Mondal and Saket Gokhale. She said the group had initially planned to continue its sit-in until 5 pm.
Following the detention, Banerjee announced that she would remain in Delhi rather than return to Kolkata that night.
She also said she intended to participate in the INDIA bloc's march scheduled for Monday in protest against the treatment of demonstrators and the restrictions imposed on their movement.
Several other opposition leaders, including former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, former Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan and former Tripura chief minister Manik Sarkar, were also detained at different locations as they attempted to reach Jantar Mantar.
The protest was called to demand Kumar's resignation over allegations concerning the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls.
With opposition leaders alleging curbs on peaceful dissent, the political confrontation over the Election Commission and the treatment of protesters is expected to continue, with Banerjee signalling that she would remain involved in the opposition's planned demonstrations.