Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Rupa Ganguly was heckled allegedly by members of the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) during a meeting here on Tuesday.
Talking to a vernacular news channel, Ms. Ganguly said the TMC workers misbehaved with her and a lady candidate for whom she was campaigning at ward number 74 at Gopalnagar in the south western part of the city.
“TMC leaders refused to let us go on the stage. Our meeting was scheduled till 5.30 p.m. and I confirmed it with police officers but TMC female workers started pulling our party flags from the stage and tried to push us off the stage. My car was attacked and my driver was assaulted. The police came to our rescue,” Ms. Ganguly said.
Ms. Ganguly was newly inducted into the party. She was fielded as the party’s mayoral candidate but the party had to change their candidate as her name was found missing from the voters’ list. Condemning the incident, senior BJP leader Siddharth Nath Singh said this incident should serve as a basis to consider imposing President’s Rule in the State.
“Our senior leader was badly manhandled, her car’s windshield was broken. This is the constitution of the Chief Minister. There is no respect for democracy in this State,” Mr. Singh said.
Refuting Ms. Ganguly’s claims, TMC candidate from the ward Debalina Biswas said the attack was a planned by the BJP workers themselves and sought an investigation into it.
Earlier in the day while talking to media persons, State Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said the State was gripped by a terror-like environment. “After the 34-year Left Front rule, we had hoped for a terror-free Bengal. But the present TMC rule is reminiscent of the erstwhile Left Front regime. The fact that many of our candidates were not allowed to submit their nomination papers and the TMC has virtually won uncontested in some constituencies shows how the ruling party is terrorising people,” Mr. Chowdhury said.
