A BJP activist died after he was allegedly assaulted during an altercation between two factions at a club — one allegiant to the Trinamul Congress and the other to the BJP — in Nadia’s Dhantala on Saturday night.

The victim, Narottam Bagchi, 62, was the father-in-law of a BJP candidate in Bahirgachi gram panchayat. Local sources said the two groups were jockeying for the control of Gadadhar Smriti Sangha which plays an influential role.

“Bagchi went to the club around 9 last night to attend a managing committee meeting that was called to discuss some allegedly unscrupulous activities by a section of members at Gadadhar Smriti Sangha,” a source said on Sunday.

When an altercation occurred among the members, Trinamul activist Atindra Dhali hit Bagchi on his chest which knocked him out. Bagchi also suffered a head injury after being hit with a hard object, the sources claimed.

Bagchi was taken to the Sabdalpur primary health centre, where he was declared dead on arrival. Police have begun a probe. But Dhali is untraceable.

Dhali and Bagchi belonged to the warring groups at the club, said the sources

The victim’s brother Tarun Bagchi has alleged that Dhali had threatened Narottam with dire consequences on a number of occasions for his association with the BJP.

“My elder brother had opposed Atindra’s unethical activities. But Atindra took the matter politically and targeted him. Last night, Atindra punched my brother to punish him for his role as a BJP activist.”

Trinamul’s Ranaghat 2 block president Rajesh Bhowmik said: “There was no politics behind the death. Rather, it was the fallout of a fight between two groups of local people for power at a club. The BJP is trying to give political colour to the incident to gain mileage before panchayat elections.”