Two Trinamool Congress MLAs — Usharani Mondal from Minakha and Sukumar Mahata from Sandeshkhali — were attacked allegedly by rival factions within the party in North 24-Parganas on Thursday night.

The attacks exposed the growing internal feuds in the TMC in North 24-Parganas where the party has been without proper leadership after the arrest of former minister and Trinamool’s district president Jyoti Priya Mallick in October last year.

Usharani was allegedly attacked by goons armed with wooden logs and iron rods while she was returning home after attending a Kali Puja event at Haroa police station. She was accompanied by her husband and zilla parishad member, Mrityunjoy Mondal. Usharani sustained a deep injury on her right leg and was struck multiple times with wooden batons.

Sandeshkhali MLA Sukumar Mahata.

In a similar incident, Sandeshkhali MLA Sukumar Mahata was reportedly assaulted by a group of goons at Simultala village, Sandeshkhali, while he was returning from Nazat.

Both the MLAss have alleged that party colleagues orchestrated these attacks.

Usharani blamed Haroa TMC block president Abdul Khaleque Mollah for the attack, while Sukumar said Hatgachi panchayat’s deputy chief, Abdul Qader Molla, a follower of the arrested TMC strongman, Sheikh Shahjahan, had assaulted him.

A senior TMC leader said those attacks exposed a lack of proper leadership in North 24-Parganas, which has 33 Assembly segments.

“Since the arrest of Jyoti Priya Mallick, the party has been experiencing a leadership void. Despite the formation of an 11-member core committee headed by minister Sujit Bose, factional feuds have not been properly controlled,” said the leader.

Bose, who heads the core committee formed by Mamata Banerjee to manage the party’s affairs since Mallick’s arrest, said the TMC had launched a thorough probe into the attacks on the legislators.

“In addition to the police probe, the party has initiated its probe into both incidents. After the investigation by the party, action will be taken against the perpetrators, even if they belong to the TMC,” Bose told The Telegraph.

Although the accused Trinamool leaders have denied involvement in the attacks, the police have arrested two individuals connected to the assault on Sukumar. The arrested duo are known as loyalists of arrested Sandeshkhali strongman Sheikh Shahjahan.

Both Usharani and Sukumar lodged complaints with the police with the names of TMC leaders.

Shahjahan was first arrested by state police in February on charges of assaulting an Enforcement Directorate team that came to raid his home on January 5 this year, following protests by women from Sandeshkhali accusing him of running a reign of terror in the area, seizing land, and assaulting women.

Sukumar claims that the assailants, loyal to Shahjahan, attacked him out of resentment following the recent appointment of new leadership for the Sandeshkhali block.

Since the arrests of Shahjahan and his aide Shibaprasad Hazra, the posts of Sandeshkhali 1 and 2 block presidents have been lying vacant. Recently, the party replaced Shahjahan with Sheikh Mijanur Mollah and Hazra with Dilip Mallik.

“These people behind my attack are unwilling to accept the new leadership that has replaced Sheikh Shahjahan,” Sukumar said.

However, Abdul Qader Molla claimed that Sukumar’s refusal to engage with local people, some of whom had allegedly paid for promotions within the ICDS scheme, led to the altercation.

“Mahata’s refusal to speak to those affected led to the anger that culminated in the attack,” Qader said.

Usharani claimed the attackers stopped her car near an autorickshaw stand in Haroa around 7.30pm, dragged her out and assaulted her and her associates, including her husband. She alleged that approximately, 40 rounds were fired, causing panic, all in the presence of police officers who eventually intervened.

Khaleque claims that goons affiliated with the MLA attacked the home of a local panchayat chief, Monika Mondal.

“There was indiscriminate firing of around 40 rounds by goons close to the MLA and her husband, spreading terror in the area. The firing could have killed us,” he alleged.

CPM leader Sujan Chakraborty said: “This is the beginning of the end of Trinamool rule.”

“It is common for TMC MLAs to be attacked by their own party members. The TMC is not a political party; it is run solely by the police and administration. These incidents expose that fact,” said BJP chief spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya.