Terming the developments in West Bengal a cause of concern for all citizens regardless of their political affiliation, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav Tuesday wrote an open letter to the people urging them "protect and preserve" constitutional values and the institutions charged with upholding them.
In an unprecedented development on Sunday, a number of CBI officers, who had gone to question Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar in connection with chit fund scam cases, were bundled into police jeeps, whisked to a police station and briefly detained.
Hours after the incident, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee began a sit-in right in front of the Metro Cinema to protest "insults" she faced at the hands of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah and claimed the CBI knocked on the doors of Kumar without a search warrant.
The Samajwadi party chief, in the letter released here, said, "The attack on the state of West Bengal is not only an attack on the values and tenets of the Constitution but also an attack on the dreams of our founding fathers."
"They are same founding fathers, who the BJP is desperate to co-opt into their narrative, because they have no link whatsoever to the Constitution and therefore the values its espouses."
"The formula is simple - unfriendly politicians in power are to be embroiled in legal battles, buried under false charges, attacked as anti-national and seditious, and their states set aflame using sectarian methods at the disposal of the government."
Asserting that the country needed strong men, he said, "Our prime minister is far from a strong man. To quote his own colleague Nitin Gadkari - 'one who cannot manage his home cannot manage the country'."
Referring to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Yadav said, "Here is a woman who was dragged from Jyoti Basu's office by the hair for demanding action against rapists and put in jail. Here is a woman who defeated the old patriarchy of the communist party in their bastion. Here is a woman who took on large, industrial interests so that farmers would not lose their land."
He said in the interest of country, the "rule of law requires strong institutions, not weak officers who are weaponised against political opponents and that elections should be fought at the polling booths not using midnight raids, trumped up charges and lies."
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