BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad accused chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday of running a “Talibani raaj (rule)” in Bengal and alleging that BJP workers and voters in the state had faced intimidation and violence following the Lok Sabha elections.

“The situation in Bengal is a very painful one and the most painful aspect is the atmosphere of terror and fear. People were terrorised not to vote (for the BJP) and threatened that they would not be allowed to enter their villages if they vote (for the BJP),” Prasad, former law minister, told reporters after submitting a report of a four-member fact-finding committee of the party on the post-poll violence in Bengal.

Apart from Lok Sabha member Prasad, the other team members were former Tripura chief minster Biplab Kumar Deb (now a Lok Sabha member) and Rajya Sabha members Brij Lal and Kavita Patidar. The committee on Friday submitted its report to party chief J.P. Nadda.

Prasad said the team spent nearly four days in different parts of Bengal and claimed that their party workers were facing brutal attacks from ruling party members, SC women were being raped and stripped and the police were taking no cognisance.

“We met Scheduled Caste women. They were raped and stripped. The mother of one of our SC party workers was assaulted, and the hand of another party worker in Diamond Harbour was crushed under boots. The police take no cognisance of these incidents,” Prasad said.

“We went to Sandeskhali too. Our candidate Rekha Patra has secured four lakh votes. There (our) people are being threatened that they will not be allowed to take drinking water from the government boring,” he said.

“Yeh to Talibani rajya hai. Wahan jo Rohingya aa rahe hain aur jo illegal immigrants aa rahe hain, woh to apni jagah par hai. Lekin jo Talibani stithi hai, logon ko paani peene nahi diya jaa raha hai aur police kuch nahi karti. Police TMC ki assistant bani hui hai (This is Talibani rule. The Rohingyas and the illegal immigrants coming to the state are already a problem. But there is a Talibani situation where people are not being allowed drinking water and the police are doing nothing about it. The police are acting as assistants of the TMC),” Prasad said.

Committee findings

The committee report stated that in Bengal under the leadership of Mamata, all democratic norms of free-and-fair elections have been compromised because of blatant misuse of official machinery. The police were made the ancillary force of the TMC.

“Women, including those from Schedule Caste and Schedule Tribe, are subjected to torture, vicious attack and even rape in front of the public without any action being taken.

“Be it Assembly elections, gram panchayat elections or the Lok Sabha elections this abuse of power with a collaborating police and administration giving a helping hand to TMC goons has been perfected into a fine game plan.”