Ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, goons associated with the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) party in West Bengal have yet again unleashed ‘khela‘ (game) of violence against their political rival BJP.
Recently, there have been several cases of unprovoked assaults on BJP workers by TMC in the State. On Saturday (16th March), a BJP karyakarta named Joydeb Das was mercilessly thrashed and attacked with sharp weapons.
The incident took place in Kushmandi in Gangarampur subdivision in Dakshin Dinajpur district of West Bengal. As per a report by ETV Bharat, the attack was carried out by local TMC leader Tarun Pal and his accomplices.
সারা রাজ্য জুড়ে @AITCofficial এর অত্যাচারের শিকার বিরোধীরা… তৃণমূলের হার্মাদ বাহিনী দ্বারা আক্রান্ত কুশমন্ডি বিধানসভার বিজেপি কর্মীর সাথে গতকাল রাতে গঙ্গারামপুর সুপার স্পেশালিটি হাসপাতালে দেখা করে তাঁর শারীরিক অবস্থার খোঁজখবর নিতে গিয়েছিলাম…#shameontmc #shameonmamata pic.twitter.com/olBVgs42fx
— Dr. Sukanta Majumdar ( মোদীজির পরিবার ) (@DrSukantaBJP) March 17, 2024
The victim is a driver by occupation. Reportedly, Tarun Pal had been hounding Joydeb Das ever since the latter’s sister-in-law Mithali was fielded as a BJP candidate for the 2023 Panchayat election.
Das is now undergoing treatment at the Gangarampur Super Specialty Hospital. His father was also injured during the attack. According to BJP President (West Bengal) Sukanta Majumdar, the victim’s wife was molested by Tarun Pal and his men.
The attack took place shortly after the Election Commission of India (ECI) announced the dates for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Following the incident, Majumdar went to the hospital and visited the injured BJP karyakarta.
In a tweet on Sunday (17th March), he informed, “Opponents persecuted across the state by TMC.Met a BJP worker from Kushmondi Assembly, who was attacked by TMC goons, at Gangarampur Super Specialty Hospital last night to inquire about his condition.”
TMC assaults BJP workers in two separate incidents
According to BJP’s national spokesperson Amit Malviya, TMC goons assaulted a female BJP worker named Suprabha Majumdar in the Basanti gram panchayat area in South 24 Parganas district of West Bengal.
Malviya added that a 75-year-old woman and a 17-year-old girl were also attacked by the same goons.
Pre-poll violence begins in West Bengal! Home Minister Mamata Banerjee, like always, is looking the other way… She is not just the most incompetent CM and HM across India but also sinister.
— Amit Malviya (मोदी का परिवार) (@amitmalviya) March 17, 2024
In Purandar village of Basanti Gram Panchayat, BJP worker Suprabha Majumdar and… pic.twitter.com/diGaEfvWnE
The BJP spokesperson added that the BJP booth President and party workers were also attacked with spades and iron rods in Balikhal in the Burakhali Gram panchayat area.
“We are standing with them and have provided them all legal and medical help,” Amit Malviya said in a tweet.
Shop of BP worker set ablaze
At around 2 am on Sunday (17th March) night, the shop of a poor BJP worker named Reena Thakur was allegedly set on fire by TMC-sponsored goons. The incident took place in Pandabeswar in Paschim Bardhaman district of West Bengal.
As per a report by Anandabazar Patrika, the victim is the general secretary of BJP’s Mahila Morcha Mandal in Padabeswar. She was earlier a member of the Trinamool Congress but left the party for BJP about 6 months ago.
Since then, she has been harassed, intimidated, threatened and even assaulted by TMC goons. Rina Thakur has also been coerced to join the Trinamool Congress.
With fear of losing gripping TMC, pre-poll violence starts!
— Office of Dilip Ghosh (@DilipGhoshOff) March 17, 2024
Trinamool miscreants set the shop of Pandaveshwar BJP worker Rina Thakur on fire! pic.twitter.com/OdRbmI0Rh0
Hours after the ECI announced the election date, her shop was set ablaze. While speaking to Anandabazar Patrika, the victim narrated, “At around 2 am, my neighbour Tulsi Bauri called me and informed me that my shop is on fire.”
“After seeing my shop burning. I tried to put out the fire. The police were also called. There is nothing left in the shop. It’s all over,” she further lamented.
Despite filing a complaint with the police, Rina Thakur informed that action has not been taken against the culprits. She has accused a local TMC leader
“TMC goons have been torturing me ever since I joined BJP. Santosh threatened to kill me several times. A month ago, I was beaten by his men. I had also complained to the police. But they burnt my shop now,” the BJP worker narrated.
The attacks are reminiscent of the post-poll violence unleashed against BJP workers by the ruling TMC government during the West Bengal Vidhan Sabha elections in 2021 and the pre-poll violence during the 2023 West Bengal Panchayat elections.
Dalit BJP leader killed
On Monday (18th March), BJYM Bolpur Vice President Krishanu Sinha took to X (formerly Twitter) to inform that a Dalit BJP leader was allegedly killed by TMC goons. The victim, identified as Tanmoy Das, was the President of BJP SC Morcha Mandal in Nanur.
Sinha tweeted, “Before the LS election, another murder by TMC goons. Tanmoy Das, BJP SC Morcha Mandal President of Nanur was killed in a premeditated manner on his way home after meeting. “
“All of us including district president, went to Santiniketan PS to demand a proper autopsy,” he further added.
Before the LS election,another murder by TMC goons.
— Krishanu Singha ( Modi Ka Parivar ) (@KrishanuOnline) March 18, 2024
Tanmoy Das, BJP SC Morcha Mandal President of Nanur was killed in a premeditated manner on his way home after meeting.
All of us including district
president, went to Santiniketan PS to demand a proper autopsy.@abhijitmajumder pic.twitter.com/PWnXLKrsKn
2021 post-poll violence in West Bengal
Using violence as an instrument to subdue their political opponents has become a distinctive feature of the TMC rule in West Bengal. Ever since the Mamata Banerjee-led retained power in the state, the persecution of dissenters and opposition workers has only intensified.
More than a dozen BJP workers lost their lives in the post-poll violence that ensued following the victory of the TMC party in the assembly elections. Some reports said women in West Bengal were raped, assaulted and, in some cases, even killed, just because they adhered to a different political ideology.
In 2021, a victim who was raped by the TMC goons in front of her father shared her harrowing ordeal with OpIndia. She narrated how she was attacked and sexually assaulted by perpetrators associated with the TMC party.
In the aftermath of the assembly election results, TMC goons wreaked havoc, attacking and plundering the houses of their opponents. In one such attack, TMC goons lynched BJP worker Avijit Sarkar to death.
