Kolkata
The Hastings area turned into a battlefield on Saturday as TMC activists tried to block the car of newly defected leaders like former transport minister Suvendu Adhikari and TMC MP for East Burdwan Sunil Mandal. Chanting slogans against these turncoats and carrying black flags, the activists gathered in front of the BJP office in Hastings and started pelting stones at the car of the newly inducted BJP leaders as they were on their way to attend a felicitation programme.
The TMC had organised a demonstration programme against the farm bill few metres away from the BJP office. The violence erupted as the car of Sunil Mandal tried to cross the demonstration of the ruling Trinamool Congress.
Terming Mandal as a ‘traitor’, the TMC cadres showed him black flag, but with the intervention of the police Mandal was rescued.
Slamming the police for allegedly igniting the chaos, BJP MP of Barrackpore Arjun Singh and BJP MP of Hooghly Locket Chatterjee said that the tension was purposely created by the police and also the demonstration programme of the ruling Trinamool Congress was an intentional ploy to start violence.
Talking to FPJ, Sunil Mandal said the TMC activists had earlier visited his house asking him to rejoin the Trinamool Congress. “The TMC hooligans have also surrounded my house asking me to rejoin the Trinamool Congress,” mentioned Mandal.
Notably, BJP central leader and West Bengal observer Kailash Vijayvargiya has narrated the incident to Union Home Minister Amit Shah. According to sources, Shah had asked the Bengal observer to write in detail the incident and sent the Home Ministry the letter.
