Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh alleged that Trinamul Congress supporters attacked him on Wednesday when he had gone out for a morning walk at New Town near Calcutta where he had shifted recently.
“I will be writing to Calcutta police commissioner informing him about the incident,” Ghosh told The Telegraph.
According to Ghosh, he had planned to meet local residents and BJP workers at a tea shop during his morning walk.
“When I was at the tea stall, a group arrived and asked me to leave. They said I was flouting social distancing, whereas none of them had a mask on,” Ghosh said, adding that the police had been informed beforehand about the tea stall event.
“Local Trinamul leaders, including Tapas Chatterjee, are behind the ruckus,” a BJP source alleged.
Other BJP leaders who were allegedly attacked lodged a complaint with the local Calcutta Leather Complex Police Station.
The Midnapore MP said Union home minister Amit Shah had spoken to him to enquire about his well-being after the alleged incident.
Trinamul spokesperson and minister Tapas Roy
said no Trinamul supporter had been involved in the incident.
“BJP leaders have nothing better to do than blame Trinamul for whatever happens,” Roy said.
The owner of Omni Tulsi housing complex, where Ghosh is currently staying, has been summoned by the New Town Kolkata Development Authority “with all necessary drawings and other land documents” of the project. Ghosh alleged that the move was politically motivated.
“This property has been here for many years. People have been residing here for the last three years. Suddenly, when I moved in, the authorities started looking for discrepancies,” he said.
Ghosh’s flat is on the fifth floor of the building and consists of 12 rooms and multiple kitchens and toilets. Sources in the BJP said there was paucity of space at the house where Ghosh had been staying previously. There were only three rooms which were insufficient for the MP’s 18 security personnel.
“The flat is owned by the builder himself. He is letting Ghosh stay here for free,” a BJP source said.
Trinamul leaders have raised questions on the profligacy of Ghosh’s new residence. “That is the journey of a BJP leader, from the so-called simplicity of an RSS pracharak to the luxury Dilip Ghosh now can’t live without,” a Trinamul insider said.