“Mamata Banerjee is playing tricks. But her tricks have been caught. She wants to hold the CBI responsible for everything. When the Calcutta High Court ordered a CBI probe, she could have filed an affidavit seeking 10 more days for Kolkata Police to crack the case,” Chowdhury, who lost the Lok Sabha elections, said.

Chowdhury, who marched from College Square to Shyambazar, with hundreds of party supporters called it a people’s movement. “I will not say people should fight for justice holding a political flag. They can fight without any political identity. We are with them. It is a people’s movement,” he said.

CPI(M) leader Srijan Bhattacharya, who took part in another protest march from College Street to Esplanade, seeking justice for the doctor, said: “Every time, the chief minister was able to manage the rape cases alleging conspiracy or casting doubt on the victim or other things. This time her every possible trick and process for tampering evidence flopped. She is trying to change the direction of the movement by politicizing it. Now, she is saying she will bring a law against rape. This is again a bluff. People of Bengal will understand this.”

The CPI(M) leader was referring to the CM’s speech on Wednesday where she said her government would bring a law in the state to ensure capital punishment in rape cases.

The Left Front, meanwhile, has announced to hold a “mega protest march” on September 3. The Left Front has asked other parties, including the Congress, to join their march.

The BJP, which had called a 12-hour bandh on Wednesday over the police action of protesters during Nabanna Abhijan, held a sit-in demonstration near Esplanade on Thursday.

A delegation of BJP leaders, led by state BJP chief Sukanta Majumdar, also met Governor CV Ananda Bose in Raj Bhavan and urged him to take a “decisive action to address the turmoil” in the state.

“We requested the Governor to protect the rights of people in Bengal and take whatever measures are necessary to lift the state out of this dire situation,” Majumdar told mediapersons after coming out of Raj Bhavan. He was accompanied by senior party leader Dilip Ghosh.

Accusing CM Mamata Banerjee of inciting unrest through her statements, Majumdar said: “We have provided the Governor with detailed information about the situation, which has deteriorated since the (rape-murder) incident on August 9. We urge the Governor, as the custodian. of the Constitution, to address these issues.”

Several BJP leaders, including Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, have called for Banerjee’s resignation, accusing her of failing to prevent the rape-murder of the doctor, and for allegedly attempting to cover-up evidence and protect some of the perpetrators. They also suggested the imposition of Article 356, which allows for central intervention in states under certain circumstances.

Following their meeting with the Governor, Majumdar and other BJP leaders participated in a sit-in protest, demanding the CM’s resignation.

In response to the BJP team’s visit to Raj Bhavan, TMC leader Kunal Ghosh told reporters, “We had been asking for the removal of the Governor, who is himself facing charges of sexual misconduct by a former Raj Bhavan staffer.” “Instead of making the demand to remove a democratically elected government, BJP leaders should explain why this Governor cannot be removed despite serious complaints against him,” Ghosh said.

Regarding the emergence of an audio recording purportedly related to the RG Kar hospital case, Ghosh commented, “We cannot confirm the authenticity of this recording. It should be examined by the CBI and become part of the investigation. We continue to call for all perpetrators to be held accountable, for the victim’s family and friends to receive justice, and for the truth to be uncovered.”

The woman postgraduate trainee doctor was found raped and murdered in the hospital on August 9, which triggered a spate of protests across the city and the state for the past 21 days.

— With PTI Inputs