CALCUUTTA, Oct 27: The protest meeting organised by the Trinamool-BJP combine today failed to get off the ground with firebrand leader Mamata Banerjee not turning up saying she was ``mentally upset'' over Sunday's ``police assault'' on her.Party spokesman Sudip Bandopadhyay read out a letter at the meeting from Banerjee, who said, ``I never stay away from the people, but as I'm mentally upset, I want a few days off.''
The Trinamool chairperson however said she would be present at the programme on November 2 to protest against the price spiral.
Bandopadhyay indicated that his party might raise the demand for imposition of Central Rule in the State during tomorrow's meeting with Governor A R Kidwai.
``President's Rule could not be imposed in Bihar, but the situation here is not the same,'' he said.
Trinamool Congress and the BJP took out processions from six points in the city converging at Esplanade, but there was not much disruption of traffic as feared.
The party also announced that effigies ofChief Minister Jyoti Basu would be burnt in 38,000 villages in the State on October 30 to protest against the ``attack'' on Mamata.
Jyoti Basu who described Mamata a ``blatant liar'' and accused her of tearing her own saree and blaming the police for it during Sunday's eviction of illegal occupants of Bedi Bhavan, was the focal point of attack by almost all speakers at the meeting including Trinamool Congress chief whip Ajit Panja besides party MPs Sudip Bandopadhyay and Ranjit Panja.
State BJP vice-president Paras Dutta who was present at the meeting along with Muzaffar Khan, another vice-president of the party, flayed the ruling CPI-M for ``assaulting Mamata''.
Both the Trinamool Congress and BJP leaders alleged that the Marxists were trying to ``eliminate'' Mamata who tirelessly fought against ``corruption and terror tactics''.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.