Mamata blames BJP for Ram Navami violence in Bengal, accuses EC of removing top cop on BJP's order

Kolkata: A day after nearly 20 people were injured due to stone pelting and blasts during Ram Navami celebration at Murshidabad in West Bengal, the state’s chief minister and Trinamool Congress supremo, Mamata Banerjee, on Thursday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of orchestrating the violence ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.

The BJP blamed Banerjee and TMC for the violence during the Ram Navami celebration at Shaktipur in Murshidabad. Nearly 20 people were injured in the incident on Wednesday. A woman was grievously injured in an explosion. The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) demanded a probe by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) into the violent attacks on the Ram Navami procession.

“Everything was pre-planned. The DIG (Deputy Inspector General of Police) of Murshidabad was removed a day ahead of Ram Navami so that you (the BJP) can trigger violence,” Mamata said at an election rally in support of the TMC candidate in Raiganj.

The celebration of Ram Navami gained popularity in West Bengal over the past few years along with the BJP’s growing clout in the state. The Sangh Parivar has been holding events across the state on the occasion with the participation of the local BJP leaders. The celebration, however, often stoked communal tension, with violence breaking out in 2017, 2018 and 2023.

The Vishwa Hindu Parishad led the Sangh Parivar in holding nearly 5000 events in villages and cities across West Bengal to celebrate Ram Navami on Wednesday – just two days before three of the 42 parliamentary constituencies of the state will go to polls in the first phase of voting for the Lok Sabha elections. The BJP candidates took part in the processions across the state, some allegedly flaunting sharp-edged weapons.

The TMC leaders and candidates also led processions on the occasion of the Ram Navami – ostensibly to make sure that the BJP alone could not reap all the political dividends out of the religious ceremony.

As police was on high alert across the state, the violence remained limited to a few places this year. Apart from Saktigarh in Murshidabad, the BJP leader Amit Malviya alleged that ‘Ram Bhakts’ had also been attacked at Egra in Medinipur.  

The Election Commission (EC) had on Monday got Mukesh, the DIGP of Murshidabad, transferred to a post, where he would not be directly involved with the conduct of the LS polls.

The TMC supremo had then said that the EC should take responsibility in case of any violence during the Ram Navami celebration.

Banerjee’s party on Thursday alleged that the EC had removed Mukesh from the post of the DIGP of Murshidabad on the instruction of the BJP. It alleged that the move was intended to strip away security measures and pave the way for the BJP's hired miscreants to carry out a “PRE-PLANNED violence under the guise of religious procession”. The party alleged that the replacement of the DIGP was aimed at enabling the BJP leaders “to spew their venom and inflame communal tensions for their political gains”.

The VHP has now planned to launch a statewide protest against violent attacks on ‘Ram Bhakts’ during the Ram Navami celebration. The organisation is also likely to move the Calcutta High Court, seeking a probe by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) into the “terrorist attack” during the Ram Navami celebration in Murshidabad.

The VHP alleged that the attack was carried out under the patronage of the TMC.

Banerjee has been alleging over the past few days that the BJP might try to trigger riots during the Ram Navami celebrations. She urged all citizens not to get provoked and fall into the trap.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday accused the TMC government in West Bengal of not only opposing the Ram Navami celebration in the state but also of allowing miscreants to pelt stones at rallies taken out on the occasion.

He hailed the Calcutta High Court’s order on Monday granting permission to the VHP to hold a procession on the occasion of Ram Navami. He called the order of the High Court a ‘victory of truth’.