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“There is utter lawlessness in West Bengal and the administration has crumbled down completely,” BJP President JP Nadda said here on Thursday.
Nadda and his convoy of 50 cars were attacked at Diamond Harbour — 52 km from Kolkata — allegedly by Trinamool Congress workers. Stones were pelted and glass bottles hurled at Nadda and other BJP leaders’ cars. Several leaders like Kailash Vijayvargiya and Mukul Roy sustained injuries.
The BJP President is on a two-day visit to the State.
Diamond Harbour, incidentally, is the Lok Sabha constituency of the Trinamool Congress’ heir apparent and Mamata Banerjee’s nephew Abhishek Banerjee.
“The administration here has crumbled down and there is no space for political debate and discussions here in Bengal. Intolerance thy name is Mamata Banerjee,” the BJP President said during a press conference.
According to him, the administration had been alerted about the possible attack and also about the incident. However, it is unlikely that any action will be taken or the perpetrators punished.
Referring to the declining law and order situation in the State, Nadda alleged that at least 130 BJP workers have been killed here due to political violence.
He further alleged that the Chief Minister and her party were aiding corruption, and syndicates (extortion rackets) were flourishing thanks to political patronage.
“The people of Bengal are unhappy with the corrupt State government and utter lawlessness. They have already expressed support for the BJP and in the upcoming 2021 state elections we will win more than 200 seats here,” the BJP President said.
Political fallout
Later, BJP workers put up blockades across the State protesting the attack on Nadda and other BJP leaders.
A section of BJP leaders also met the Governor, Jagdeep Dhankhar, complaining about the incident and the subsequent decline in law and order.
“The CS (Chief Secretary) and DGP (Director General of Police) called on me today at 6 PM. Unfortunately neither came with any update on pending issues or regarding attack on convoy of BJP President JP Nadda. Their continued non responsive stance signals failure of constitutional machinery in the State,” the Governor tweeted.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee downplayed the incident claiming that it “could have been staged by BJP” or “the cars in the convoy collided with one another”.
“Do they not have their own agencies to manage law and order here? The entire attack could have been staged by the BJP themselves so gain national media coverage. I don’t know what has happened, but have ordered a probe,” she said while addressing a public rally.
Sources say the Union Home Ministry has also sought a report on the incident.
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