Charges fly thick and fast over who destroyed, during Amit Shah’s roadshow, the bust of social reformer Vidyasagar – an icon in Bengal – turning the political slugfest between the TMC and the BJP into a clash of cultures.
Kolkata: It is a political whodunit with charges flying thick and fast over who vandalised the bust of Bengali icon Ishwar Chandra Vidyaasagar during Amit Shah’s road show on Tuesday. The Trinamool Congress on Wednesday released videos to claim that “BJP goons” had damaged the statue, while Amit Shah asserted that TMC activists attacked his roadshow and it was Mamata Banerjee who had the Vidyasagar bust broken as part of a “conspiracy” to blame the BJP ahead of the last round of voting for the national election.
Trinamool Parliamentary team also met the Election Commission over the issue and submitted “proof” in support of their claim. Earlier, at a press conference, TMC leader Derek O’Brien said, “The video not only clearly establishes what the BJP did, but proves that its chief Amit Shah is a liar and ‘dhokebaaz.’
“The streets of Kolkata are simmering with shock and anger. What happened yesterday hurt Bengali pride,” O’Brien said. One of the videos he furnished shows a group of men purportedly trying to break down the gate of the Vidyasagar College and enter the campus by scaling its walls.
“The gates were shut, our roadshow was outside, our workers were outside, the bust was inside a room, which was presumably locked. The keys must have been with the college management. How can we break the statue,” Amit Shah questioned at a press conference in Delhi, displaying three photographs. The BJP chief also claimed his party workers were nowhere near the gate of the Vidyasagar College.
Claiming his party has 44 videos to buttress its contention, O’Brien said, “It is a juvenile argument as to who had the keys to the gate? The video establishes beyond doubt who desecrated the statue.” The party also showed a video and WhatsApp message allegedly by a BJP supporter asking people to come to Shah’s roadshow with rods and arms to fight the TMC and police.
“We are trying to obtain and authenticate an audio of certain slogans — like ‘Vidyasagar is finished, where is the Josh’ — raised during the violence,” O’Brien said and alleged that the Central forces deployed in West Bengal have started a “whisper campaign” asking people to vote for the BJP. “The Central forces are in cahoots with the BJP. We have written to the EC thrice and this will be our fourth letter,” the TMC leader said.
The BJP and the TMC supporters on Tuesday fought pitched battles on the streets of Kolkata during a massive road show by Shah, who escaped unhurt but was forced to cut short the jamboree and had to be escorted to safety by the police. The Trinamool Congress also accused Deputy Election Commissioner Sudeep Jain of giving orders to the police not to intervene in ‘BJP issues’ in state.
“There were drunken ‘outsiders’ who were part of this violence. They were brought by the BJP from Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar and lodged in hotels and private houses. The same people were seen in Shah’s roadshow and the ensuing violence,” TMC leader Manish Gupta said. A student has filed a police complaint against Amit Shah and several other students took out a silent protest, plastering their mouth with black tape.
