Sukanta announces 'Reject Bail' protest after spending night in lockup

West Bengal BJP President Sukanta Majumdar spent the entire night in the central lockup of Lalbazar after being arrested on Saturday during a protest in Kolkata's Gariahat. Majumdar, along with several other BJP leaders, was detained while demonstrating against the alleged gang rape of a student in Kasba.

Emerging from the lockup on Sunday, Majumdar declared a new strategy for the party. He stated that henceforth, BJP workers arrested during protests would refuse to take bail on a personal bond. This is a significant escalation in the party's confrontation with the state's police and government.

Speaking to the media after his release, Majumdar, who is also a Union Minister, said, "I, Jagannath Chatterjee, Tamoghan Ghosh, and 32 leaders have started a movement to reject bail. After that, wherever BJP officials in West Bengal are arrested while agitating for democracy, we will reject bail. We want to see whether the police have more power than the BJP workers. We want to see how many jails there are in West Bengal."

Majumdar recounted the events of the night, stating that the police initially asked them to sign for bail, which they refused. He claimed that the police then asked them to leave without signing, an offer he simply rejected. "The police had no legal basis to detain us. We said, 'Produce us in court.' The police did not dare to do so," he asserted, highlighting what he called a lack of legal procedure. He further complained about the conditions, stating that outside food was not allowed and there was a shortage of water and medicine for the injured workers.

Addressing the Kasba gang rape case, which sparked the protest, Majumdar called it part of a larger pattern of violence against women in the state, referencing the Sandeshkhali and RG Kar incidents. He launched a scathing attack on the Chief Minister, questioning how she could claim Bengal is ahead despite such repeated incidents in educational institutions.

He also raised serious questions about the culture within the ruling party. "The accused student says that if you want to get a position, you have to compromise, you have to be loyal to him!" Majumdar said, implying a systemic issue. "If you have to compromise like this for the post of college secretary, then what kind of compromise do women have to make to get a position in the main Trinamool party?" he questioned