BJP Office in the Dabgram area in Siliguri, West Bengal was set on fire by some unidentified miscreants on Thursday (June 22, 2023) night. The fire was doused by local BJP supporters of the area with the help of a fire tender around 3 am, police said.
West Bengal | BJP's office in Siliguri's Dabgram area was set ablaze by unidentified miscreants last night pic.twitter.com/aMQhmg6bR7
— ANI (@ANI) June 23, 2023
BJP’s Siliguri MLA Shankar Ghosh alleged that the party had been receiving threats from various quarters to remove the unit office.
Suvendu Adhikari says ‘only solution to incidents of violence in WB is to not vote for Mamata’
Speaking about the incident, BJP leader and the Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, said that such violence will continue as long as the ruling Trinamool Congress Party is in power in the state with Mamata Banerjee as the Chief Minister.
“The only solution to such a menace is ‘no vote to Mamata’ and ‘no vote to Trinamool Congress’,” Adhikari said.
#WATCH | This (violence) will not stop till Mamata Banerjee is in power and the solution is not to vote for TMC and Mamata, says West Bengal LoP Suvendu Adhikari on BJP office set ablaze by unidentified miscreants in Siliguri's Dabgram area pic.twitter.com/X74Z1lKBf1
— ANI (@ANI) June 23, 2023
BJP holds protest rally following fire incident at Siliguri office
Meanwhile, in response to the fire incident at the BJP office in Ward No. 23 of the Siliguri Municipal Corporation, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Circle No. 4 Committee organised a protest march. This evening, a rally was held in front of the BJP’s Circle No. 4 Committee headquarters in Siliguri’s Dabgram neighbourhood. Along with other BJP leaders, Siliguri Municipal Corporation opposition leader Amit Jain attended the demonstration to call for the arrest of those responsible for the tragedy.
In a statement to the media following the incident, Prasenjit Pal, the president of the BJP’s Circle No. 4 Committee, asserted that goons affiliated with the Trinamool Congress purposely set the office on fire during the night. Pal demanded a thorough investigation into the matter to ascertain the truth.
SC refuses to stay deployment of central forces for West Bengal Panchayat Polls
The fire incident happened days after the Supreme Court of India refused to stay the order of the Calcutta High Court directing the deployment of central forces for the upcoming Panchayat Polls in West Bengal.
The State Election Commission and West Bengal Government had approached the apex court against Calcutta High Court’s two orders passed on the plea of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Suvendu Adhikari. Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury was also a party in the matter.
In its order, a vacation bench of Justices BV Nagarathna and Manoj Mishra observed that the orders passed by the High Court were to ensure fair and free elections in the state. Notably, following West Bengal Assembly Elections, multiple reports of violence occurred where ruling party TMC’s workers allegedly attacked BJP supporters across the state. The matters related to the violence are under investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation.
