West Bengal BJP leaders stage demonstration against post-poll violence
Hundreds of BJP supporters joined Suvendu Adhikari, the Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, and other leaders of the party’s State unit in a demonstration outside the Raj Bhavan on Sunday in protest against post-poll violence.
The protesters carrying photographs of the victims were joined by BJP MLAs Agnimitra Paul and Ashim Kumar Sarkar, former MP Arjun Singh, and other senior leaders such as Tathagata Roy, Tapas Roy and Rudranil Ghosh.
Court permission
The Calcutta High Court gave permission for the demonstration after Mr. Adhikari moved the court, citing the precedent of October 2023, when Trinamool Congress general secretary Abhishek Banerjee staged a similar protest at the same spot.
The agitation comes after a humiliating defeat for the BJP in all four constituencies in the June 10 Assembly byelections.
“Hundreds of people from these constituencies who could not vote and had no ink mark on their ngers because of intimidation of the Trinamool Congress will assemble outside the Raj Bhavan,” Mr. Adhikari said.
On July 19, a protest will be held in these constituencies, where BJP leaders including MLAs will visit the residences of party workers, he said.
He also called for a demonstration outside the Kolkata headquarters of the Calcutta State Electricity Corporation in protest against the increase in power tari°s in the Kolkata Metropolitan Area.
Political violence
In the latest incident of post-poll violence, a Trinamool Congress worker was killed at Islampur in Uttar Dinajpur district. Bapi Roy, 35 was shot by unidentied people at an eatery in the Srikrishnapur area of Islampur along the National Highway. He was declared dead at a health facility.
Mohammad Sajjad, another youth who sustained bullet injuries in the attack, has been shifted to the North Bengal Medical College and Hospital.
The family members of the deceased Trinamool worker demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation probe.
Islampur had made headlines earlier this month, when a video of a woman being ¬ogged by a local Trinamool Congress worker in the area had gone viral. The police had registered a suo motu case and arrested Tajmul Hossain, the accused in the case.