John Barla, Union minister of state for minority affairs and BJP MP from Alipurduar, protested on the road leading to the Alipurduar DM office for three hours from noon on Wednesday after he was allegedly denied permission by police to enter the premises.

“I am surprised that a central minister is denied permission to enter the office. I wanted to submit a memorandum regarding the closed tea gardens and the plight of tea garden workers. I will raise this issue before the Speaker in Parliament. I will come to this office after Diwali,” said Barla.

Trinamul, however, said the BJP MP was indulging in an election stunt as he "failed" to discharge his duties as an MP for the people of Alipurduar.

“This is nothing but an election stunt as he (Barla) has done nothing for the region. Tea workers are aware of the work done for them both by the Centre and the state government,” said Mridul Goswami, the chairman of the Alipurduar Trinamul district committee, indicating that the Trinamul-led state government had done more for the tea belt than elected BJP lawmakers of the region.