The attack on Diamond Harbour MP Abhishek Banerjee in West Bengal's Sonarpur has caused a massive controversy, with both the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Trinamool Congress (TMC) blaming each other for the attack.
Abhishek, considered number 2 in the party after Mamata Banerjee, was in Sonarpur in the South 24 Parganas district to meet the family of a TMC worker, when suddenly some unidentified people attacked him, throwing eggs and stones towards him.
The TMC alleged BJP Mondal President Abhijit Biswas was "actively directing and instigating" the mob to attack Abhishek. Sharing his photos on micro-blogging site X, the party attacked Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari and said he can evade accountability but can't escape from questions.
"This raises a simple question: if BJP claims the attack was merely an expression of spontaneous public anger, then why was a BJP functionary present at the scene and playing such an active role?" the party said.
But BJP IT cell head Amit Malviya was quick to counter the allegations and claimed that one of the arrested accused has links to former TMC MLA Lovely Maitra. In an X post, Malviya said the incident shows that internal rivalries in the TMC are spilling out in the public.
"This revelation raises more questions than it answers," he said. "Was this merely an isolated incident, or is it symptomatic of a deeper factional battle within the Trinamool Congress?"
The incident currently is being probed by the police, which has arrested five people till now. The arrested accused are Nirmal Sengupta, Debashish Datta and Kajal Das, who sources told India TV have had links with Maitra. They will be produced before a court in Baruipur.
Meanwhile, day after the attack on Abhishek, TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee also claimed he suffered head injuries after being attacked by a mob near a police station in the Hooghly district. He alleged that the mob included BJP supporters, who wanted to kill him.
"There were 10-15 BJP goons in saffron clothing who suddenly shouted slogans and created a rivalry atmosphere. They were abusing me, but I was proceeding when a stone was thrown at my head. It has now been two hours, and there was blood on my clothes. I had fallen on the road, and a CRPF personnel came and rescued me, for which I am thankful," he told reporters.