On Wednesday, August 28, the Bharatiya Janata Party announced a 12-hour Bangla bandh (a strike in West Bengal) in protest of "brutal" police action against "peaceful" protestors during Tuesday's Nabanna Abhijan, or march to the state headquarters in Kolkata. The BJP has announced Bangla bandh from 6am to 6pm on August 28.
Protesters were trying to get to "Nabanna" to force West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to resign over the August 9 alleged rape and murder of a doctor at the government-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata.
A protest march in Kolkata that turned in the wrong direction resulted in chaos and violence taking over the city's streets. Union minister and West Bengal BJP president Sukanta Majumder demanded a "12-hour bandh" in the state in the wake of the tragedy.
The unregistered student organization Paschim Banga Chhatra Samaj (West Bengal Students Community) and the state government employees' organization Sangrami Joutha Mancha (Joint Platform of Struggle), which has been agitating for a long time to demand that their DA be equaled to that of their counterparts in the central government, organized the Nabanna Abhijan on Tuesday.
Amid increased security surrounding the West Bengal state secretariat, protests started in Kolkata's College Square, and protesters gathered in the Santragachi.
As the political standoff between the BJP and the TMC intensifies, the situation in West Bengal remains tense. The bandh has underscored the deepening divide between the ruling party and the opposition, with both sides gearing up for what appears to be an increasingly confrontational political climate in the state.