PM Narendra Modi meets Mamata Banerjee at Raj Bhavan; TMC, Left activists continue protests

KOLKATA: Amid severe protests by the Trinamool Congress and Left-wing students, Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Kolkata on Saturday to take part in 150th-anniversary celebrations of the Kolkata Port Trust. PM Modi was received by West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankar, Mayor of Kolkata and Minister Firhad Hakim and other dignitaries at the airport. 

The PM is on a two-day visit to Kolkata for various events. 

Minutes later, PM Modi met with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at the Raj Bhavan, ahead of attending the sesquicentenary celebrations of Kolkata Port Trust. The visit comes at a time when West Bengal has been witnessing protests against the amended Citizenship Act.  

However, hours before his arrival in Kolkata, students and political parties started protests in West Bengal shouting "Go Back Modi" and also burnt his effigy.

Student arms of various Left parties, including the CPI-M affiliated Students Federation of India (SFI) held large gatherings in five points of the city - Golpark and Jadavpur 8B bus stand in South Kolkata, Esplanade in central Kolkata and Hatibagan as also the metropolis` education hub College street in North Kolkata, displaying posters and banners ridiculing the Prime Minister.

Coming together under the banner "Students Against Fascism", the protestors, joined by those of the Congress-affiliated Chhatra Parishad, held aloft the tri-colour and publicly read the Preamble to the Constitution as they staged demonstrations in each of the venues.

Black banners, posters and hoardings were dominant at the protests, where none of the organisations carried their own flags. The protest at College Street saw a large number of students take out a march from College Square to Presidency University.

"We want to give a message that the politics of violence which the BJP has started in campuses across the country, we won`t tolerate that in Kolkata. There is a need for a united protest cutting across political lines. That`s the reason we have assembled here," said a girl student of Presidency University.

In Gol Park, the students flew black balloons with "go back" slogan, obstructing traffic. They also wrote, "No NRC, No CAA, No NPR" on the road. "So now, even the streets of Kolkata are asking Modi to go back," said another protestor.

CPI-M activists carrying black flags, demonstrated at the iconic Rabindra Setu (Howrah Bridge), floating a large number of black balloons in the air with posters proclaiming "Modi go back".

Same slogans were also heard near the NSCBI Airport as a small group of Congres activists gathered displaying the tricolour and waving black flags. They also cried "Tanshahi nehin chalagi, nehi chalegi (will not accept dictatorship)", "Modi Hatao Desh Banchaoa", and staged a sit-in as police personnel put up guard rails to prevent them from proceeding any further.

The SUCI (Communist), a Left outfit, demonstrated at Durgapur city of West Burdwan district and burnt an effigy of the Prime Minister. "Modi an `unwanted guest` go back," they shouted. PM Modi will dedicate four renovated heritage buildings to the nation and inaugurate the sesquicentenary celebration of Kolkata Port trust during a 21-hour stay.

The PM is also scheduled to launch an interactive light and sound show of Rabindra Setu (Howrah Bridge) and go to the Belur Math - global headquarters of the Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission - on his first visit to the state after the Lok Sabha polls.

Stringent security was put in place for the Prime Minister`s tour amid apprehensions of large-scale protests.

(With Agency Inputs)