Kolkata: The ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Tuesday held a peace rally from Tollygunge to Rashbehari in South Kolkata, the same place which witnessed violence a day ago during recently-defected leader Suvendu Adhikari’s road show.
This area is considered to be a strong citadel of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and both the TMC and the BJP are bidding to secure it in the upcoming assembly polls, slated to be held in a couple of months.
Referring to Monday’s violence on the BJP rally, West Bengal Power Minister Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay alleged that the BJP was attacking its own rallies, just to malign the ruling TMC.
“Everywhere, BJP claims that the TMC is playing violent politics but the truth is that they disguise their own party workers as TMC cadres, just to malign us. These outsiders do not know the culture of West Bengal and they distort the history and peace of the state,” Chattopadhyay said.
Addressing the gathering today, TMC MP Mala Roy termed BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari as a ‘backstabber’ and said that those who got their identity from the Trinamool Congress are now maligning the TMC just for their own personal gains. The defected leaders are thinking of vote-bank politics and not for the benefit of the common citizen of West Bengal, she said.
For the uninitiated, BJP workers who were on their way to attend newly-defected BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari’s rally in West Bengal’s East Midnapore district were attacked with crude bombs and stones on Tuesday.
Several BJP workers sustained serious injuries as crude bombs and stones were hurled. Multiple vehicles were also vandalised, following which roads were blocked in protest.
Meanwhile, BJP leader Mukul Roy submitted a deputation to Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar informing him about the violent attack on the BJP leaders during the public meeting.
“President’s Rule is the only way to restrict the ruling Trinamool Congress’ violence. Every day, either our convoy or our leaders are being attacked. Several BJP leaders have also lost their lives due to the TMC's violence. The governor has assured all help and will take action accordingly,” mentioned Roy.
