New Delhi: Stones were hurled and several two-wheelers were set on fire as supporters of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Trinamool Congress (TMC) clashed in West Bengal’s South 24 Parganas district on Saturday afternoon, police said.
According to a report by news agency PTI, the incident took place when a bus carrying BJP supporters, travelling to the rally of Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari in Diamond Harbour, was allegedly stopped by TMC activists in the Hatuganj area, around 40 km from Kolkata.
As the BJP supporters got down and took on those who stopped it, a clash broke out, with both the sides hurling stones at each other, police added.
BJP MLA Agnimitra Paul, who was in a vehicle behind the bus, joined the BJP supporters to block Diamond Harbour Road leading to a massive traffic congestion.
“TMC activists attacked our men. They are afraid of the popularity of Suvendu Adhikari and hence wanted to disrupt the rally. Our men were beaten up when they were protesting peacefully,” PTI quoted Paul as saying.
“This is something that is not acceptable in any democratic country. Some people are detained, as false cases are a culture of West Bengal but our district president will go and try to resolve the things,” news agency ANI quoted LoP Adhikari as saying.
Kolkata | Over 100 cars were broken, 150 women workers were attacked. Over 50 women got seriously injured, out of them 6 admitted to hospital, one is still missing. Around 20,000 workers were stopped, incl our MLA Umika Rai: WB LoP, Suvendu Adhikari on clash b/w TMC & BJP workers pic.twitter.com/NkK2wA4iUN
— ANI (@ANI) December 3, 2022
Taking a dig at Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Adhikari tweeted, “Your administration didn’t allow the Rally at first. Hon’ble high court granted permission. You blocked roads, obstructed supporters from reaching the venue, disrupted arrangements and placed hurdles at each step. Your onslaught could not dent the determination of @BJP4Bengal karyakartas.”
Later, Adhikari addressed a mega rally in Diamond Harbour, the Lok Sabha constituency of TMC’s Abhishek Banerjee, in a show of strength ahead of the panchayat elections.
