Altercations between the TMC and the BJP continue in West Bengal. In the latest incident, there was an explosion at a residence in the Durgapur area of Pashchim Bardhaman district. The incident took place on Friday, and as per usual, saw the two parties deny allegations of involvement, even as they made similar claims.
"We were sitting in our house when a fire bomb was flung in our midst. It injured the cow. I think BJP workers are angry I'm a TMC worker and am popular here," news agency ANI quoted a TMC worker to say. The Opposition party however quick to clarify that it had nothing to do with the incident, and that they had only been in the area to help put out the fire.
"Our boys only went to help to put out the fire which they saw from afar. It's become a norm to accuse BJP of any disturbance in the state. We believe action must be taken against the perpetrators. We hope this oppressive govt will go in this upcoming election," the agency quoted a BJP worker as saying.
This however is not an isolated incident. In the run up to the 2021 Assembly elections, there have been a spate of violent altercations between the two parties.
Most recently, BJP President JP Nadda's convoy was allegedly attacked on Thursday as the vehicles passed through West Bengal's Diamond Harbour road. Several BJP leaders said that they had been hurt in the altercation. The irate mob had also attacked other vehicles of senior BJP leaders like national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya, national vice-president Mukul Roy and Anupam Hazra in the convoy.
While the BJP alleged that the convoy was attacked by Trinamool Congress supporters, and blamed Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, the latter had dismissed the entire incident as being "nautanki".
"They (BJP activists) are coming out (for rallies) with arms every day. They are slapping themselves and blaming it on the Trinamool Congress. Just think of the situation," Banerjee had said.
