BJP hits streets to demand Jyoti Priya Mallick's removal from Mamata Banerjee’s cabinet

The BJP attempted to corner Trinamul over the alleged public distribution system fraud on Friday by taking to the streets of Bengal to seek the resignation of former food minister Jyoti Priya Mallick from Mamata Banerjee's cabinet.

Mallick became the minister of forests in 2011 after serving as the minister of food and supply for ten years.

In order to voice their demands, more than 500 members of the BJP's Kisan Morcha planned a march on Friday afternoon to Khadya Bhavan, the state department of food and civic supplies' headquarters. After being halted by police, the demonstrators squatted on the road outside Khadya Bhavan with signs and banners calling Mallick a "thief."

"How can a minister who was detained in relation to a fraud concerning the distribution of food grains to the underprivileged go on with his work? Jyoti Priya Mallick need to be taken out of Mamata Banerjee's cabinet. "We have been conducting comparable demonstrations throughout the state and will persist in taking to the streets until he is removed," said Mahadeb Sarkar, the head of the Bengal branch of the Kisan Morcha.

Calling for Mallick's removal was important, according to a senior BJP leader, since the governing Trinamul had supported the minister. The party moved quickly to denounce and remove former education minister Partha Chatterjee from the cabinet after his incarceration.

The previous food minister was involved in this large-scale scheme, and government employees are also involved. Many others who are connected to the corruption network but are still at large are like Mullick's close aide Bakibur Rahaman, who was recently detained. "We demand action against everyone," he said.

The Kisan Morcha staged demonstrations in the areas in addition to Calcutta. BJP activists set fire to Mallick's effigy in Bankura, while demonstrators stirred up trouble in Alipurduar, Purulia, and East Burdwan.

Leading the demonstration, BJP officials said that the fraud included not only the provision of foodgrains to the impoverished but also the deprivation of minimum support price for paddy by many farmers, as the same machinery handled both elements.

Similar demonstrations earlier this week by the Congress and the CPM were followed by the BJP's protests.

"The ruling party at the Centre is using central agencies to target Trinamul because we are critical of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government," a Trinamul leader stated, criticizing the BJP for politicising the matter. Targeting the opposition is a common practice in India. We are the targets of revenge.

Dealers' anxiety

Ration merchants' association, the All India Fair Price Shop merchants' Federation, said on Friday that they shouldn't be singled out in the wake of the PDS system's purported fraud.

Since state officials manage the system centrally, we have no say in how it is manipulated. As the PDS fraud came to light, individuals started making controversial remarks, and here we are on the ground. Because of this, we developed evidence to demonstrate that we had no place in the system, according to Biswambhar Basu, the organization's national general secretary.