The BJP staged a silent protest at the Jantar Mantar here on Wednesday to condemn the violence in Kolkata after the alleged attack on the party president Amit Shah's convoy.
Union ministers Nirmala Sitharaman, Jitendra Singh, Vijay Goel and Harsh Vardhan wore black bands and put fingers on their lips while sitting on the podium. Some Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers were also carrying placards which read: "save Bengal, save democracy".
The leaders hit out at Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for allegedly "throttling democracy" in the West Bengal.
"Yesterday, our national president's (Shah's) rally was hit by violence, but if it wasn't for the CRPF, our party president would not have come back safe," Sitharaman told reporters. "I think the forthcoming defeat has left the CM of Bengal, Mamata Banerjee, completely rattled and she has been provoking her cadre to indulge in violence."
"What kind of a democracy will we allow to flourish in our country? One riddled with violence or oppression or one without oppression and violence?" Singh asked. "A democracy cannot flourish if it is not free of violence. Our party president has called on people to exercise their right through ballot boxes and ensure a peaceful democracy flourishes in the state."
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