The heart of Kolkata was drowned in a deluge of saffron on Tuesday as thousands of BJP took part in party President Amit Shah’s road show ahead of the seventh and final phase of the Lok Sabha elections on May 19. But Amit Shah’s roadshow in Kolkata ended up in violent clashes between Trinamool Congress youth members and BJP workers at College Street in the northern part of the city.
A sea of saffron was seen during Amit Shah’s nearly 4-km roadshow from Esplanade to the ancestral home of Swami Vivekananda, a journey he could not complete. Women in traditional Bengali white sarees with red borders, tribals donning the BJP’s trademark saffron turbans and carrying bows and arrows danced as the caravan inched through the cramped streets of West Bengal’s capital city. With the state polarised along communal lines like never before during an election, the parade had men dressed like Ram, Hanuman and the ‘Vanar Sena’, the army of apes that helped the Lord defeat demon king Ravan, according to epic Ramayana.
However, the rhythm was broken when a clash broke out between the saffron party activists and members of Trinamool Congress students’ union near Calcutta University building, towards the end of the road show as the two opposing groups attacked each other with stones, bamboo sticks and metal rods. The campus of Vidyasagar College on College Street was allegedly vandalised by BJP and ABVP supporters after they were provoked by the students from inside.
Here are 10 things we know so far about the clashes that took place in Kolkata:
(Inputs from Agencies)
