Mamata Banerjee holds Amit Shah responsible for Cooch Behar firing, demands his resignation
Appealing to people to remain calm, Banerjee alleged that central policemen shot dead people standing in a queue to vote and demanded "Shah should resign" owing responsibility for the incident "which is dastardly, cold-blooded and unprecedented".
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FollowKolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday blamed Union Home Minister Amit Shah for the violence in Sitalkurchi in West Bengal's Cooch Behar district where voting had to be called off after clashes left four people dead.
"Home Minister Amit Shah is completely responsible for today's incident and he himself is the conspirator. I don't blame central forces because they work under Home Minister's order. We will demand his resignation," she said, calling the deaths "murder by central forces".
She also said that, "I believe, this incident is pre-planned. I will order a CID investigation into the matter," adding, "We have sought Home Minister Amit Shah's resignation."
She also questioned the central forces' version of firing on voters in self-defence in Cooch Behar, lack of video footage and injuries to policemen.
She said TMC would bring out protest rallies throughout the state on Sunday and asked party activists to wear black badges and peacefully protest the killings from 2 pm to 4 pm.
She said she had long apprehended that the forces' would act in such a manner. "As BJP knows it has lost the people's mandate, they are conspiring to kill people," Banerjee added.
She alleged this was part of a conspiracy hatched by the Union home minister.
"However, I would ask everyone to remain calm and cast their vote peacefully. Avenge the deaths by defeating them," she said.
The Chief Minister will visit the area on Sunday while the Trinamool Congress plans to organise black-badge protests across the state to mark the incident.
The four men were shot dead this morning in a clash with security forces outside a polling booth. The clashes, which took place as 44 seats vote today in the fourth phase of state elections, have triggered a blame game between the BJP and the Trinamool Congress.
The Election Commission stopped polling at the booth in Sitalkurchi, about 680 km from state capital Kolkata, where violence was reported and a detailed report has been sought.
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