Returning to her ‘street fighter’ avatar in her first major protest since losing the Bengal elections, Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee vowed to “fight or die” as she accused the BJP of attacks on party leaders, including her nephew Abhishek, and intimidation. Staging a dharna at central Kolkata, which was attended by only eight of the party’s 80 MLAs, Mamata accused the BJP of attempting to break the Trinamool after “looting votes” in the polls.

“Ladenge ya marenge (I will fight or die). I will not die until I remove all of you from power,” Mamata, 71, roared at the dharna site, taking potshots at the BJP. While the gritty Mamata turned up at the protest, only eight MLAs and six MPs were there to support her.

Among the MLAs present at the protest site in central Kolkata’s Esplanade were Sovandeb Chattopadhyay, Nayna Bandopadhyay, Madan Mitra, Ashok Deb and Asima Patra, Biman Banerjee, Firhad Hakim Kunal Ghosh.

Dola Sen, Kalyan Banerjee, Derek O’Brien, Samirul Islam, Maneka Guruswamy, and Nadimul Haque were among the six MPs seen beside Mamata.