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Balagarh MLA Manoranjan Byapari accuses rival TMC leader of ransacking party office
MLA Manoranjan Byapari, an award-winning Bengali Dalit writer who won the Balagarh seat in the 2021 state elections, mounted a sharp attack on his rival
KOLKATA: Two Trinamool Congress (TMC) leaders in Bengal’s Hooghly district have been trading charges the lawmaker Manoranjan Byapari accused a local party leader of ransacking his party office.
Legislator Manoranjan Byapari, an award-winning Bengali Dalit writer who won the Balagarh seat in the 2021 state elections, mounted a sharp attack on his rival, Hooghly zilla parishad member Runa Khatun, who he accused of ransacking his small party office.
in a Facebook post, Byapari said he used objectionable language in his first post because he was upset over the attack but realised his mistake soon after and deleted the post. But some people took a screenshot of the post and are circulating it, he added, a reference to Runa Khatun filing a police complaint against him at Balagarh police station.
“I apologize for using the words. I lost my cool…. I deleted the post. I had been writing for three days on social media that Khatun and her husband were planning an attack on me,” Byapari told reporters in Kolkata.
“There is a threat to my life because I protested the running of gambling dens, theft of sand from river beds and various illegal activities by followers of some local leaders,” the Balagarh MLA said.
Khatun rebutted the allegations. “Balagarh never heard of such crimes before Byapari became an MLA. It seems he is angry because he not getting a share of the profits. I lodged a police complaint because he used filthy language against a woman. As far as his allegations are concerned, let there be an investigation. I suspect he is clandestinely working for our rival parties,” she said.
Bengal’s minister of state for finance (independent charge), Chandrima Bhattacharya said the party will look into the matter.
Byapari made his electoral debut in 2021 when chief minister Mamata Banerjee in a surprise move fielded the Partition refugee from the Namashudra caste who spent a life in crushing poverty as a manual labourer and then rickshaw puller, before publishing his pathbreaking autobiography. Byapari won the election securing 45.65 % votes.
