Citing the violence and death of political activists in West Bengal, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leadership on Sunday demanded immediate deployment of Central forces in the poll-bound State.
“Mamata ji (Banerjee) is losing ground in the State but she wants to hold on to power by resorting to violence. We will appeal to the Election Commission for immediate deployment of Central forces in the State,” BJP national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya said.
The remarks by the BJP leader comes a day after the murder of a party worker at Halisahar in North 24 Parganas district. The BJP worker was killed allegedly by Trinamool Congress supporters on Saturday evening while participating in a Griha Sampark Abhiyaan (door-to-door campaign) for the party.
Three persons were arrested by the police in connection with the murder on Sunday. There was tension in the Halisahar area when the body of the Saikat Bhawal, the slain BJP worker, was taken to his residence. BJP supporters got in a scuffle with the police at the local station.
A number of BJP leaders, including Barrackpore MP Arjun Singh, were present at the party worker’s residence when the body was brought from the hospital. West Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh said Mr. Bhawal was beaten to death on the streets for participating in a political activity.
Later in the evening, the State BJP leadership claimed that another party worker, Sukdeb Pramanik, from Katwa was “brutally murdered by TMC goons”. “Two BJP workers murdered in less than 24 hours! Clearly indicates Pishi’s desperation to retain power but she is bound to fail! People have decided to restore the peace in Bengal and uproot TMC in 2021,” the State unit of the BJP tweeted from its official handle.
The Trinamool Congress leadership claimed that the violence was something that had been imported to the State. “We are not doing any violence. Ours is a party based on Gandhian values. Violence is prevalent in the State from where Mr. Vijayvargiya hails from. Violence is something which is prevalent in Gujarat,” State Minister and senior Trinamool leader Firhad Hakim said.
In another important development, Trinamool secretary general Partha Chatterjee held a meeting with State’s Forest Minister Rajib Banerjee. The Minister has been publicly raising issues such as favouritism in the party. After the meeting, the Trinamool leader said he spoke about his differences with the party leadership.
The Trinamool Congress also expelled Kanishka Panda, a leader from Purba Medinipur, district who is considered close to dissident Trinamool leader Suvendu Adhikari. Mr. Panda had been targeting the party leadership, particularly the Chief Minister, over the past few days.
