On a day when Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo Mamata Banerjee took oath for the third consecutive term as the Chief Minister post-poll violence continued in West Bengal. The BJP on Wednesday alleged that one of its polling agents in the Indas Assembly constituency in Bankura district was murdered by Trinamool Congress (TMC) cadres.
The State BJP leadership further alleged that the deceased Arup Ruidas was first murdered by the TMC cadres and then hung from a tree. The local TMC leadership denied the allegation.
The house of BJP’s district Minority Morcha convener Ajiza Khatun was allegedly looted by miscreants. In Birbhum district, a BJP worker was critically injured when miscreants hurled a crude bomb at him in the Suri Assembly constituency.
The house of a BJP booth president in the Sainthia Assembly constituency in Birbhum was allegedly looted by miscreants in the early hours of Wednesday.
The blood-soaked body of a TMC worker was found in the Tufanganj area of Cooch Behar district in the early hours of Wednesday. Local TMC leadership alleged that the deceased Sahinur Rehman was brutally beaten up on Tuesday night by BJP cadres, who left him on the street and he succumbed to his injuries.
A TMC booth president was allegedly stabbed to death in the wee hours of Wednesday in Alipurduar district by BJP cadres. The deceased Dipk Roy was rushed to a nearby primary health centre where doctors declared him dead.
Later in the day, BJP president J P Nadda said that 14 BJP workers were killed and about 1 lakh fled from their homes in post-poll violence in West Bengal.
Accusing Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of being silent on the issue, Nadda said that it shows her involvement in the atrocities inflicted on BJP workers. “While BJP workers are being murdered, Mamata Banerjee is mum on the issue. This shows her involvement in the atrocities,” said Nadda while speaking to reporters in Kolkata.
Describing the alleged attacks on BJP workers as a “state-sponsored programme”, Nadda said that the BJP workers in Canning East constituency in South 24 Parganas district faced “the destruction caused by the cyclone Amphan last year and now are facing Mamataphan.”
Asked whether the BJP would demand the imposition of Article 356 in Bengal, Nadda avoided a direct reply. Describing the process of imposing President’s Rule, Nadda said that “even if it's a fit case for it, as far as the BJP is concerned, we prefer to fight democratically.”
Nadda administered the oath to BJP MLAs for democratically fighting the ongoing violence in West Bengal during a sit-in demonstration at a BJP party office in Central Kolkata.