Mamata Banerjee heckled by group of protesting students during speech at Oxford University event

London: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, while addressing the Kellogg College, Oxford University in London, on Thursday, was interrupted suddenly by a group of protesting students, who tried to disrupt her speech and embarrass the Chief Minister by raising the issue of post-poll violence and the RG Kar College and hospital rape case.

However, Chief Minister Banerjee managed the situation with a cool head and responded to the protesters while maintaining courtesy. Initially, the guests present in the audience were shocked by the sudden protest, but they applauded the Chief Minister’s response. Finally, CM Mamata Banerjee concluded her speech without any hitches. She was heard telling the protesters, “Tell your party to increase its strength in our state (West Bengal) so that they can fight with us.”

When this incident took place around the Chief Minister’s speech, former Indian cricket team captain Sourav Ganguly was also present in the audience.

In response to the heckling, the Trinamool Congress Chief pulled up an old image of herself from the early 1990s, showing her with a bandaged head, claiming it as proof of an attempt to kill her during her time in the opposition.

The drama unfolded when an audience member asked her about ‘specific investment proposals’ worth “lakhs of crores” that she claimed the state had received while Mamata Banerjee was speaking about West Bengal’s development and investment opportunities. As the CM tried to respond, another member in the audience intervened. The CM argued the audience to stop as it was not a press conference.

Although there were various meetings related to industry and trade during the London visit, the main attraction of the Chief Minister’s visit was this speech at Kellogg College.

And that’s where this unexpected incident happened. In the end, the protesters were forced to leave the hall in the face of the collective protests by the rest of the audience. The Chief Minister was invited to speak at Kellogg College on the social development of women, children and the marginalised sections of the society. (IANS)

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