BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari, along with alleged victims of post-poll violence, met Bengal governor C.V. Ananda Bose on Sunday, and gave a list of names and complaints at Raj Bhavan.

Adhikari provided the governor with a detailed account of the alleged violence inflicted on BJP workers across the state after the Lok Sabha polls whose results were out on June 4. He urged governor Bose to ensure that central forces remained in Bengal till Durga Puja.

“The four pillars of democracy are at stake in this state. More than 5,000 ration cards have been taken away from people, and over 1,500 BJP workers are being prevented from opening their shops. While they (alluding to Bengal’s ruling party Trinamool) may not be killing people as they did in 2021 (Assembly elections), they are creating conditions wherein people will die from lack of food,” Adhikari said after the meeting.

Governor Bose, addressing a gathering of nearly 100 persons who went with Adhikari to Raj Bhavan on Sunday, referred to Thursday’s incident when the police stopped Adhikari and those with him from entering Raj Bhavan.

Adhikari had moved Calcutta High Court. On Friday, the court permitted him to meet the governor, provided he took a prior appointment.

The governor on Sunday said that the high court had expressed shock at the incident and asked whether he was under house arrest.

Bose added that he would strive to implement the court’s order in “letter and spirit”.

“The victims of (post-poll) violence will meet with me...,” he said, adding that he had received 1,025 complaints.

“I will also request the transfer of all police officers who were on duty that day (Thursday),” the governor said, adding he had sought a report from the home secretary regarding Thursday’s incident, wherein the police stopped Adhikari and a bus full of people allegedly affected by the post-election violence, citing Section 144 of the CrPC around Raj Bhavan. The persons had come from Canning, Jadavpur, Bhangar, Uluberia, and Kultali to lodge their complaints with the governor.

After the high court’s intervention, the governor agreed to meet with the BJP leader and the alleged victims of post-poll violence on Sunday at 4pm.

To increase pressure on the Trinamool-led state government regarding the alleged post-poll violence, the central BJP leadership sent a four-member team led by former Tripura chief minister Biplab Kumar Deb to Bengal. The team, which includes
BJP MPs Ravi Shankar Prasad, Brij Lal and Kavita Patidar, reached on Sunday and would stay in the state for a couple of days before submitting a report to the
party’s central leadership.

Adhikari, on the other hand, announced that he would stage a sit-in demonstration in front of a Raj Bhavan gate, as a protest against the alleged post-poll violence in Bengal. He said he had written to the commissioner of Kolkata Police for permission to stage the protest.