As West Bengal gears up for its high voltage state Assembly elections, the spate of political violence in the state has only been rising. In another such incident, a local BJP leader was shot at and injured in the Haringhata area of Nadia district in West Bengal Sunday. The party has alleged Trinamool Congress party cadres to be behind the attack.
The police confirmed that the 32-year-old Sanjay Das, a booth president of the BJP under ward no. 10 of Haringhata Municipality was found near a tea stall at Kapileswar Santoshpur in an injured state. The police personnel admitted him to a hospital. Das is said to be out of danger.
Giving more information about the incident, SP of Ranaghat Police District, VSR Ananthnag said that policemen patrolling in the area, stopped near a tea stall beside National Highway 12 at around 2:30 am Sunday, when they noticed some locals sitting on the ground some distance away. When the group of people gathered there saw the police approaching, all but one fled. As the policemen went closer, they saw the local BJP leader lying there in an inebriated state with his trousers soaked in blood. Das told the police that one person in the group fired at him and the bullet hit him in the waist, the SP said.
In a complaint lodged by the BJP leader’s father in the evening, several people have been named as accused. He stated in the complaint that he was told by his son that a heated argument over some political issue had insued, following which a person from the group fired at him.
The incident happened prior to PM Narendra Modi’s massive Kolkata rally held at the city’s historic Brigade Parade Ground on Sunday. Speaking on how Mamata Banerjee had let down her people in Bengal, PM Modi, in his speech, had also expressed his concern about the deteriorating law and order situation in the state. PM Modi said: “You are well aware of the condition of ‘Maa, Manush, Maati’. Mothers are being attacked on the streets and in their houses. Recently, the cruelty unleashed on an 80-year-old mother has shown their cruel face to the entire country.”
The Prime Minister’s statement had come against the backdrop of the recent barbaric attack on a BJP worker and his 80-year-old mother by the TMC workers in Nimta in North Dum Dum city in West Bengal.
The political heat in West Bengal is at its peak as all political parties have kickstarted campaigning for the upcoming state Assembly elections with a bang. While the incumbent Trinamool Congress will be fighting to save its political space, BJP will be going all out aiming to topple Mamata Banerjee’s 10 year reign in the state.
The assembly elections in West Bengal are scheduled to be held in eight phases. The voting will begin on March 27 and go on until April 29. Counting will be held on May 2.
