As the West Bengal Assembly elections are approaching, the battle between Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) is getting fierce each passing day. On Monday, shoes were hurled at BJP national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya and Mukul Roy's vehicles in Kolkata where the leaders had gone for a roadshow, reported India Today. Reportedly, the BJP was holding a roadshow despite Kolkata Police not granting them permission.
This comes days after BJP national president JP Nadda's convoy was attacked allegedly by Trinamool Congress (TMC) supporters. Nadda, who was on his way to Diamond Harbour Road in West Bengal along with Kailash Vijayvargiya and BJP state president Dilip Ghosh to meet party workers for the upcoming Assembly elections in the state, was attacked. Stones and bricks were hurled at their vehicles. Vijayvargiya and Mukul Roy were reportedly injured during the incident.
While BJP called the incident a "sponsored violence", Mamata Banerjee termed it as "nautanki" and called the entire incident "staged".
Union Home Minister Amit Shah had condemned the attack and said that the state has gone into an era of "tyranny, anarchy and darkness under the Trinamool rule". Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar had also expressed concern over the "alarming reports of anarchy and lawlessness" and lamented that such incidents took place despite his intimations to the Chief Secretary and Director General of Police.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had said, "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 said. "They are roaming around with the BSF, CRPF, Army and the CISF (personnel). Why are they so scared?" she added.
Besides, the elections to the 294-member West Bengal Assembly are likely to be held in April-May.
