West Bengal: TMC, BJP supporters clash in Kolkata; makeshift stage set on fire | VIDEO
Reports suggest that the makeshift stage was used by Biplab Deb, former Tripura Chief Minister and BJP leader, for addressing a gathering in the afternoon, as part of the party's Parivartan Sankalp Sabha.
Political tensions soared in West Bengal on Sunday evening ahead of the upcoming assembly elections after supporters of the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) clashed at the Behala Sakher Bazar on the outskirts of capital city of Kolkata over the use of microphones and hoisting of party flags.
Initial reports suggest that the All Bengal Badminton Tournament was being organised like every year by TMC councillor Sudip Pal when the altercation broke between supporters of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's party and the BJP. Around 20 to 25 supporters of the BJP allegedly vandalised a makeshift stage and set it on fire, the TMC alleged.
Reports suggest that the makeshift stage was used by Biplab Deb, former Tripura Chief Minister and BJP leader, for addressing a gathering in the afternoon, as part of the party's Parivartan Sankalp Sabha.
The ruling party also alleged that some of the BJP supporters also accosted members of the club during a badminton tournament. "The Trinamool Congress will make its stance harder, the more they resort to such tactics," TMC MLA Ratna Chatterjee, who represents the Behala Purba assembly constituency, told reporters.
BJP's counter allegations and West Bengal assembly polls
However, local leaders of the saffron party have claimed that the makeshift stage was set on fire by some TMC goons. "TMC goons attacked, vandalised and set fire to the meeting stage of West Bengal election co-in-charge of BJP Biplab Deb. "Law and order in West Bengal has reached its nadir under Mamata Banerjee rule, which is evident across the state," Union Minister of State for Education Sukanta Majumdar said in a post on X.
Meanwhile, the security has been heightened in the area and additional forces have been deployed, the police said, adding that one fire tender was pressed into service to bring the blaze under control. The violence has taken place in Kolkata ahead of upcoming assembly elections for which the Election Commission of India (ECI) is expected to announce the scheduled by February end or the beginning of March. Currently, Banerjee's TMC has been in power since 2011.
In previous assembly elections in 2021, the TMC won 213 seats to retain power for a third consecutive time. The BJP, which had won just three seats in 2016, had won 77 assembly constituencies and emerged as the main opposition party. Since then, the saffron party has been expanding its footprint in West Bengal and is looking to end the nearly 15-year rule of the TMC.