FIR against Shah ‘mockery of democracy’, says HM, accuses Mamata govt of ‘misusing state machinery’

New Delhi, May 15: Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday took to Twitter to launch a blistering attack on Mamata Banerjee-led government in West Bengal and accused the state government of 'misusing the state machinery to stifle democratic rights of the people'.

The Kolkata police registered an FIR against BJP president Amit Shah in connection with the violence during his roadshow in the West Bengal capital on Tuesday. The police registered two FIRs - one at Jorasanko police station and another at Amherst Street police station - after the clash between the BJP and the TMC supporters Tuesday evening.

"The FIR against BJP National President, Shri @AmitShah for the attacks on his road show in Kolkata is a mockery of democracy and due process...West Bengal Govt is misusing the state machinery to stifle democratic rights of the people. These attempts at intimidating the leaders and workers of a political party will fail miserably," the Home Minister tweeted.

"I am deeply concerned over the increasing incidents of political violence in West Bengal. It seems that the Law and Order situation is worsening further in the state with every passing phase in the ongoing General Elections...The Law and order is a primary responsibility of a State govt and its Chief Minister. The West Bengal govt. and Chief Minister, Sushri Mamata Banerjee should own the responsibility of the prevailing situation in the state," he further said in a series of tweets.

Amit Shah has been named as an accused in the FIR registered at Amherst Street police station on the complaints filed by students of Vidyasagar College and Calcutta University. Several BJP leaders were picked up by the police and detained in a midnight crackdown, said reports.

During the clashes, a bust of Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, a noted philosopher and a key figure of Bengal Renaissance, was damaged.

A day after social reformer Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar's statue was damaged in clashes between the BJP and TMC supporters, Mamata Banerjee today took out a march from Beliaghata to Shyambazar in Kolkata. Banerjee marched to protest against the vandalism that took place in Kolkata on Tuesday.

Her march comes on a day when both the BJP and the TMC have accused each other of being responsible for the desecration of the statue of Vidyasagar, the 19th century educationist and reformer.

Throughout the day, both the parties blamed each other for the bloody violence and the political battle spilled on to the streets.