BJP candidate allegedly shot at in Bengal’s Malda; in hospital
BJP workers blocked NH-34 in protest against the alleged attack. District Superintendent of Police Aloke Rajoria rushed to the spot. No police officer, however, commented on the incident till late on Sunday night.
Gopal Chandra Saha, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate from Malda assembly constituency in Bengal’s Malda district was injured in the neck after he was allegedly shot at following a public meeting on Sunday evening.
Polls in this constituency will be held in the last and eighth phase on April 29. The incident took place in the Sahapur area.
Saha was admitted at the Malda Medical College and Hospital. Before being taken to the operation theatre, Saha told the local media that he was shot inside the local BJP office. “I was having food and talking to some party workers after a meeting when some miscreants barged in and opened fire,” he said.
Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh accused the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) and said, “Those afraid of losing the polls indulge in violence.”
Krishnendu Narayan Chowdhury, a heavyweight TMC leader from Malda and former lawmaker, said, “No TMC worker in involved in this. Campaigning is going on for a long time. There has never been any conflict between the BJP and TMC in Malda. Let the police draw up a first information report (FIR). Let there be an inquiry. As a candidate, I am campaigning too.”
BJP workers blocked NH-34 in protest against the alleged attack. District Superintendent of Police Aloke Rajoria rushed to the spot. No police officer, however, commented on the incident till late on Sunday night.
The BJP also alleged that Partha Sarathi Das, a party worker, was assaulted by TMC workers at North 24 Parganas district’s Kamarhati where polls were held on Saturday.