On Thursday, even as West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee participated in a sit-in next to the Gandhi statue in Kolkata, to support the nationwide farmers’ agitation, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president JP Nadda’s convoy was allegedly attacked en route to Diamond Harbour.
The BJP claims that their convoy came under attack and stones were pelted upon them. The incident reportedly took place at the Shirakol crossing located approximately 30 kilometers from Kolkata. Senior BJP leaders Kailash Vijayvargiya and Mukul Roy were reportedly injured in the attack. Mukul Roy tweeted pictures of his hand with a blood stain on his shirt’s cuff and the large stones reportedly pelted at his vehicle.
We are living in a Jungle Raaj run by the anarchic TMC. We were attacked en route the organizational event in Diamond Harbour, West Bengal.
If blood is what I need to give for restoring democracy in WB, I would do it.
Throw blood-thirsty TMC out of Nabanna. #AarNoiAnnay pic.twitter.com/Li1QKOos8P— Mukul Roy (@MukulR_Official) December 10, 2020
The Telegraph reported that the BJP claimed that at least 17 cars and 127 bikes were damaged and 35 bikes could not be found.
Meanwhile, the West Bengal Police issued a statement saying, “Shri JP Nadda, National President, BJP reached safely at the venue, Diamond Harbour, South 24 Pgs. Nothing happened to his convoy. Few bystanders at Debipur, Falta PS, Diamond Harbour PD, sporadically and suddenly threw stones towards vehicles trailing long behind his convoy.”
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee meanwhile chalked up the entire incident to “nautanki”. Speaking at the sit-in protest, Mamata said, “They are not serving people. They have nothing better to do. One day a Chief Minister comes to visit, another day the Home Minister arrives.” She added, “When they arrive, they think nobody else will hold any event. And when nobody comes for their program, they resort to ‘nautanki’ and play the victim for coverage in national news.”
Meanwhile Bengal BJP chief Dilip Ghose reportedly promised revenge for the attacks in a Facebook post saying, “Bodol hobey, bodlao hobey (There will be change, there will also be revenge).” This is a play on Mamata Banerjee’s own words from 2011, “Bodla noy, bodol chai (We don’t want revenge, we want change).” Ghosh also promised to “return everything with interest”.
It is noteworthy that Mamata Banerjee has been a vocal supporter of the nationwide movement by farmers who are seeking the repeal of recent anti-farmer agricultural laws passed by the center. In fact, when the alleged attack took place on the BJP convoy, Banerjee was at a sit-in protest that had been going on for three days to express solidarity with the farmers’ agitation. Yet, none of the BJP leaders visiting West Bengal addressed this. Even Nadda himself, after reaching the venue of the event he was attending in Diamond Harbour, stuck to criticising the Mamata Banerjee government of corruption and administrative failure, without any mention of farmers or agriculture.
Amidst all of this, it is important to note that Diamond Harbour is the constituency of All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) leader Abhishek Banerjee, who is also Mamata Banerjee’s nephew. BJP has already upped their ante against Banerjee’s nepotism by referring to her as “pishi” or aunt, instead of “didi” or sister as she is usually known. Assembly elections are due in Bengal next year and it is no secret that this is the one state BJP wants the most.
Interestingly, on December 7, a BJP rally in Siliguri had turned violent when BJP workers reportedly tried to break past barricades set up by the police and even pelted stones on them. Police resorted to using water cannons and tear gas to control the situation. One BJP worker Ullen Roy was killed in the violence. However, after the post mortem was conducted, it was discovered that his injuries were due to pellets fired from a shotgun. The West Bengal Police issued the following statement on Twitter:
As per the PM report “death was due to the effects of shotgun injuries.” Police do not use shotguns. It’s obvious that during yesterday’s protest in Siliguri, armed persons were brought and they fired from firearms. (1/3)
— West Bengal Police (@WBPolice) December 8, 2020
There was a malafide intention to create violence by the use of firearms. CID West Bengal has been asked to investigate. Truth will come out and strong action will be taken against all those who planned and executed the heinous crime. (3/3) pic.twitter.com/8UNdfDoVDH
— West Bengal Police (@WBPolice) December 8, 2020
Now, there is no denying that Trinamool Congress workers also have a history of violence, and have been accused of violently attacking and even murdering Left party cadres in the past. However, the BJP has now accused them of killing over 100 BJP workers ever since Mamata Banerjee came to power. All of this could be used to give the recent attack on the BJP convoy a particularly potent spin, designed to score political brownie points among the BJP’s target audience.
JP Nadda did not miss the opportunity when he addressed media persons later in the day and said, “Today’s events show how Mamata Banerjee is frustrated. She has sensed that the ground has shifted.” He revealed his cards when he added, “BJP will form a government in Bengal.”
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