‘Will target 4 TMC leaders for every BJP leader attacked’: Bengal BJP talks ‘Kerala-style retaliation’

Though Bengal BJP leaders such as state president Dilip Ghosh and general secretary Sayantan Basu have made vitriolic statements in the past, this is the first time a warning of this nature has been sounded from the BJP state headquarters

Talking revenge in unequivocal terms, the West Bengal unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday said it will target four leaders of the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) to avenge the attack on one leader from the saffron camp.

The warning was sounded by Bengal BJP vice-president Biswapriyo Roy Chowdhury during a press conference at the party’s state headquarters in Kolkata. He made the statement in reference to an alleged bomb attack on the car of the BJP Murshidabad district president on Saturday. (PTI File)

The warning was sounded by Bengal BJP vice-president Biswapriyo Roy Chowdhury during a press conference at the party’s state headquarters in Kolkata. He made the statement in reference to an alleged bomb attack on the car of the BJP Murshidabad district president on Saturday. Though nobody suffered any serious injury, the windows of the car melted in the explosion, alleged Roy Chowdhury.

“Democracy is in peril in West Bengal and we need restoration of peace. Our workers and leaders are being targeted every day. We saw the same situation in Kerala. When Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and BJP workers were being killed in Kerala in repeated attacks (by the Marxists) they decided to retaliate. They targeted four people for every RSS and BJP worker killed. If proper investigation is not done into yesterday’s incident and the guilty are not arrested we will follow the same path here,” said Roy Chowdhury.

“We do not believe in the politics of violence. But if people think that we will silently watch our men being attacked and killed, they are wrong. We are workers of a political party. We protest against injustice and we resist injustice but if that does not work we do not hesitate to avenge injustice. If this situation continues we will target four people for every single attack on us. And let me specify that we will selectively target district and state leaders. If TMC can handle that, let it do so,” Roy Chowdhury said.

Though Bengal BJP leaders such as state president Dilip Ghosh and general secretary Sayantan Basu have made vitriolic statements in the past, this is the first time a warning of this nature has been sounded from the BJP state headquarters. Roy Chowdhury is known for his organisational skills and he has never made statements of this nature, party leaders said.

Reacting to this, TMC Lok Sabha member and party spokesperson Saugata Roy said, “I would not like to seriously consider what a leader of Roy Chowdhury’s stature is saying but if the Bengal BJP really takes the path of violence then TMC is ready to handle it. But one must remember that people of the state will not tolerate any violence. I hope the BJP central leadership takes note of what Roy Chowdhury has said.”