The West Bengal government on Thursday appointed a Special Investigation Team to inquire into the vandalism of a statue of Bengali writer and reformer Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar in Kolkata on Tuesday, India Today reported. The incident took place during a roadshow of Bharatiya Janata Party National President Amit Shah.
The news channel said the security personnel at the college asserted that CCTV cameras had been installed at Vidyasagar College, where the bust had been installed, but were not operational. It said the cameras have not been operational for three months, due to poor maintenance and ruckus during admissions.
The Trinamool Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party have accused each other of vandalising the statue. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had claimed in a rally in Martharpur town in West Bengal that the bust of Vidyasagar was kept in a locked room, and only Trinamool Congress workers had the keys.
On Wednesday, the Election Commission said campaigning in nine seats in the state will end at 10 pm on Thursday. Ordinarily, campaigning for these seats would have ended on Friday. The poll panel took the decision after violence at Shah’s rally. It had also condemned the desecration of the statue.
On Thursday, Modi offered to rebuild the statue, an offer Banerjee rejected. She said the state has enough resources for reconstruction.
However, Banerjee criticised the Election Commission, claiming that the poll panel is full of workers of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. She also called the order unconstitutional and unethical.
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