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‘Theatre of terror’: TMC, BJP supporters ‘clash’ near Kolkata; rally stage ‘set on fire’
The stage had hosted Deb’s address at the Parivartan Sankalp Sabha in the Behala Paschim area in southwestern outskirts of Kolkata earlier on Sunday.
Supporters of the ruling Trinamool Congress and the opposition BJP clashed near Kolkata on Sunday evening, allegedly over the use of loudspeakers at a local club, with the confrontation escalating into arson as a makeshift stage used for a BJP public meeting earlier in the day was set on fire.
The incident that took place in the Sakherbazar are on the southwestern outskirts of Kolkata, triggered fresh political sparring between the two sides.
Local BJP leaders alleged that miscreants set the stage on fire hours after the meeting as part of targeted violence linked to the party’s ‘Parivartan Sankalp Yatra’ ahead of the West Bengal assembly polls, reported PTI news agency.
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The stage had hosted Deb’s address at the Parivartan Sankalp Sabha in the Behala Paschim area earlier on Sunday. According to officials, one fire tender was pressed into service to douse the flames at the venue.
TMC counters BJP claims
The TMC rejected the allegations, with Behala Purba MLA Ratna Chatterjee offering a different account of the events. She claimed that some BJP supporters had accosted members of the local club while a badminton tournament was underway.
“The Trinamool Congress will make its stance harder, the more they resort to such tactics,” she told reporters after visiting the club.
BJP alleges political violence
The BJP accused the TMC of unleashing violence soon after Deb’s address. Party spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla took to X, calling it “the most blatant display of political violence and intolerance”.
“TMC workers stormed the venue, vandalised the site and after his departure set the sabha stage on fire in the middle of a bustling market. It is clear as daylight - TMC fears defeat. Attacking political rivals and constitutional bodies has become their SOP,” he wrote.
BJP IT cell in-charge Amit Malviya shared a purported video of the incident. He also claimed that the ruling party had turned the state into a zone of fear.
“TMC has reduced Bengal to a theatre of terror. Mamata Banerjee’s goons are rampaging across the state, torching democracy in a desperate bid to cling to power,” Malviya said.
Law and order under fire
Union Minister of State for Education and BJP leader Sukanta Majumdar condemned the incident, describing it as evidence of a deteriorating law and order situation in the state.
“TMC goons attacked, vandalised and set fire to the meeting stage of West Bengal election co-in-charge of BJP Biplab Deb,” he said.
“Law and order in West Bengal has reached its nadir under Mamata Banerjee rule, which is evident across the state,” Majumdar added in a post on X.
The former state BJP chief also alleged that “TMC goons” were carrying out “premeditated attacks” not just on opposition workers but also on officials engaged by the Election Commission. “A ‘maha jungleraaj’ is prevailing across West Bengal,” he said.
Majumdar further claimed that the Sakherbazar incident reflected growing “anxiety among the TMC and its chief Mamata Banerjee” as the elections draw closer.
