BJP workers and supporters clashed with police, throwing stones and blocking roads.
Strong points
- BJP workers and supporters protesting killings of party workers
- The violence started outside the State Secretariat “Nabanna”
- Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad accused Mamata Banerjee of violence
New Delhi:
BJP leaders today blamed Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for the violence and clashes that swept through the city as the party staged a protest march in violation of ban orders banning large gatherings. BJP leader and Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said that despite Mamata Banerjee’s concerns about democracy, his government had not followed its principles.
“Does your state have the right to protest or not? Protesters are being murdered. Because the ground under your feet is moving, because the BJP has 18 seats in Lok Sabha,” he said.
The violence that started outside the “Nabanna” Secretary of State had escalated, engulfing several parts of the city that looked like combat zones.
BJP workers and supporters clashed with police, throwing stones and blocking roads with burning tires, to protest a spate of killings of Saffron Party workers.
“There was more than a lakh on the march and more than 1,500 party workers were injured,” Prasad said.
Denouncing violence in the state, Ravi Shankar Prasad said: “Will Mamata-ji stop the expansion of BJP in Bengal with sticks and police brutality? The people of Bengal want change.”
“There is a lot of outcry over the BJP ruled states but why the silence on Bengal?” he added.
BJP chief JP Nada tweeted: “Mamata Banerjee’s karyakartas and the government machinery run by her unleashed brutal force on the BJP karyakartas in an effort to prevent them from demonstrating against his tyrannical and bloody bad regime in West Bengal. Such abuse of power is totally unacceptable. & Condemnable. “
Mamata Banerjee’s karyakartas and the government machinery run by her unleashed brutal force on the BJP’s karyakartas in an effort to prevent them from demonstrating against its tyrannical and bloody bad regime in West Bengal. Such abuse of power is completely unacceptable and reprehensible.
– Jagat Prakash Nadda (@JPNadda) October 8, 2020
Across the city, the BJP had organized three marches, all leading to the Secretary of State. The largest of them, from maidan, was led by Tejasvi Surya, the new leader of the youth wing of the party who flew to Kolkata for the event.
Protesters were stopped halfway, prompting angry BJP supporters to attack police with stones. When they attempted to bring down the barricades, the police responded with tear gas shells.
An unknown number of demonstrators were arrested. Police said they recovered a loaded pistol from one of the protesters. Police also said BJP workers were targeting them with raw bombs, a charge the BJP denied.
