TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee joined a peaceful Padmapukur demonstration over the NEET paper leak after the Calcutta High Court denied rally permission. Police detained TMC leaders Kunal Ghosh and Baishwanar Chattopadhyay, prompting Banerjee to visit Lalbazar police headquarters
Published Date – 25 July 2026, 07:16 PM
Kolkata: Former West Bengal chief minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee on Saturday joined a protest at Padmapukur here in support of students agitating over the NEET paper leak issue after the Calcutta High Court refused permission for a proposed rally, with the demonstration triggering a confrontation between police and supporters of the TMC’s Kalighat faction.
Police detained Beliaghata MLA Kunal Ghosh and student leader Baishwanar Chattopadhyay while attempting to disperse the gathering, prompting Banerjee to rush to the protest site before later proceeding to Lalbazar police headquarters on a scooter.
The protest was organised by the Kalighat faction of the Trinamool Chhatra Parishad (TMCP), along with the party’s youth and IT wings, against the alleged NEET paper leak.
The organisers had planned a march from Padmapukur to Moulali via CIT Road. The Calcutta High Court, however, declined permission for the rally after the organisers approached it following the police’s decision to withdraw an earlier permission.
The matter was heard by Justice Sougata Bhattacharyya in a special sitting on Saturday. The court observed that in view of the violence reported during Left student organisations’ NEET protest in Kolkata on Friday, permission for another rally could not be granted in the prevailing circumstances.
Despite the court’s order, supporters assembled at Padmapukur from the afternoon, leading to a face-off with police when they tried to remove the gathering. Scuffles broke out as police detained Ghosh and Chattopadhyay. Addressing protesters, Banerjee said her party had honoured the court’s order by not taking out a rally but questioned why police were preventing what she described as a peaceful demonstration.
“We are not holding the rally because we respect the HC order. But why are the police stopping a peaceful gathering? It was only a two-hour programme. They are afraid of us, and the people will give them the answer,” she said.
She asserted that students and young people across several states had taken to the streets over the alleged NEET paper leak and said she had joined the demonstration not on behalf of her party but as a citizen.
“From Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Tripura, Assam, Odisha and Bengal, students and young people are on the streets, and we have not come here for our party. We have come here to express solidarity with the students. So many people have been arrested because they are afraid. They are afraid after seeing the students’ and young people’s movement. I am saying this as a citizen,” Banerjee said.
Claiming that the protest was entirely peaceful, the TMC chief said no roads had been blocked and urged the police and central forces to exercise restraint.
“Police and central forces have young children at home as well; they should think about this. We did not organise any procession. We only held a peaceful sit-in. No roads were blocked. Other political parties can organise processions, but you will not allow us to do so? Will you not allow us to express our solidarity? I have always engaged in peaceful protests and have always stood with students and young people,” she said.
Banerjee also targeted Union Home Minister Amit Shah, alleging that the Centre was using the police to suppress protests. “Amit Shah, take a look! The police are under your authority; you are the Home Minister. You cannot do anything to me,” she said.
The developments came hours after Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan resigned amid intensifying nationwide protests over the alleged NEET paper leak.
In a letter posted on X, Pradhan said the issue was not one of “individual prestige” and that he had decided to step down to prevent “anti-national forces” from exploiting the situation.
The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), which has been spearheading the agitation, termed Pradhan’s resignation the first major victory of its 36-day protest campaign but said the protests would continue until its remaining demands, including compensation for families of students who allegedly died by suicide over the controversy and withdrawal of cases against protesters, were met.
