Incidents of arson and attacks on political workers and leaders were reported from a number of locations of poll-bound north Bengal on Wednesday, prompting both the Trinamul Congress and the BJP to point fingers at each other.
In Raiganj, a fire broke out in the outer part of the house of a BJP leader on Wednesday night. Jayashree Chakraborty, the leader who recently joined the saffron camp from Trinamul, and her party colleagues accused workers of her former party of arson. Jayashree’s family members doused the flames with the help of neighbours.
Sources said on Wednesday evening, Jayashree had held a meeting with BJP workers to make transport arrangements for workers attending the public meeting of Prime Minister Narendra Modi scheduled in Calcutta this Sunday.
As she returned home at Ashokpally area of the town, she found the outer part of her house in flames, she said.
“Some people had set the fire in a planned manner and I suspect they wanted to damage my house. They have also pelted bricks and stones at my house,” the BJP leader said.
Senior BJP leaders of the area went to the spot. BJP leader Abhijit Joshi accused Trinamul of the attack.
Trinamul leaders, however, denied the charges. “The BJP is trying to earn sympathy by resorting to such tactics,” said Priyatosh Mukherjee, the Raiganj town block president of Trinamul.
In Siliguri, Anit Das, the vice-president of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha in Siliguri (organisational) district, was attacked by a group of goons near the indoor stadium in Deshbandhupara of the city on Wednesday night.
Anandamoy Barman, a party leader, said some Trinamul-backed goons had attacked Das.
“He (Das) was returning home with one of our party workers after attending a wedding. Suddenly, a group of Trinamul supporters attacked them near the indoor stadium. They were beaten with blunt instruments and both of them got seriously injured,” said Burman.
Other BJP workers took the duo to Siliguri district hospital and both are under treatment.
In another incident, a group of goons, who the Trinamul Congress alleged were BJP supporters, attacked the car of Hiten Burman, a former state minister and Trinamul MLA of Sitalkuchi in Cooch Behar on Wednesday evening.
Sources said Burman, along with some others, speaking at a public meeting in Nayarhat of Mathabhanga-I block when attackers lobbed crude bombs at his car. Also, some motorcycles of Trinamul supporters were damaged.
“The BJP had orchestrated the attack. The attackers also took away the MLA’s bag which had some cash, ATM cards and some documents,” said Partha Pratim Roy, district Trinamul president of Cooch Behar.
On Thursday, Roy met senior police officers and sought necessary intervention. A complaint has been filed with the police where 18 persons, mostly BJP supporters, have been named, sources said.
BJP leaders have brushed aside the charges. “The incident is a fallout of acute infighting within different lobbies of Trinamul,” said a local leader of the saffron camp.