NEW DELHI: Congress leader Digvijay Singh today came out in support of Mamata Banerjee over her protest against the Army’s presence at toll plazas in West Bengal and suggested that the troops were deployed after the TMC chief took a stand against demonetisation.
Singh said that in view of the “seriousness” of the matter, Prime Minister Narendra Modi or Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar should issue a clarification in this regard.
“Mamata Banerjee’s only fault is that she has taken up the cause of the poor, the middle class and the deprived vigorously. She is going from state to state, talking about the problems caused by demonetisaiton. Therefore, it is a serious case,” Singh told reporters in Parliament premise.
Singh said a clarification in this regard should come from “not less than either the Defence Minister or preferably by the Prime Minister”. CPI(M) MP Mohammed Salim alleged that the TMC chief was engaging in theatrics to grab attention.
“Banerjee engaging in theatrics over the deployment of the Army is nothing new for people of West Bengal. She has been practising such politics over the past 10 years. Now people of the country will come to know how she is defaming others, even the army, out of her paranoia,” he said.
Banerjee remained at the state secretariat today to protest the Army’s presence at toll plazas in several parts of the state and asked whether it was an “army coup”. Army personnel, however, had evacuated the toll plaza near he office last night.
PTI