Kolkata: Amid reports of sporadic violence in different parts of the state as workers of the political par-ties clashed with each other over the filing of nomination, Trinamool Congress (TMC) national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee appealed for peace and asked his party workers not to indulge in any vio-lence but report to the party in case of any trouble.
Tension spread in pockets of Murshidabad district on Saturday following the murder of a local Con-gress leader, identified as Fulchand Seikh (42). State Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury al-leged Seikh was sitting in front of his residence along with his son when a group of miscreants led by a local TMC leader shot him from point-blank range. “Three others who tried to save him were also as-saulted by the ruling party activists,” he alleged. The district police arrested two persons, Kajal Sheikh and Safique Shekh, in connection with the murder.
Workers of the TMC, CPI(M) and Congress clashed in certain pockets of the district. Amid the clash, a firearm was recovered from Bashir Mollah, a local TMC leader in Domkal. He was arrested and taken to a nearby police station. West Bengal State Election Commission (WBSEC) has sought a detailed re-port from the Murshidabad district administration on the matter.
In Asansol’s Barabani, TMC and CPI(M) workers clashed over filing nominations while going to the BDO office. In Bhangore-II, a worker of the BDO office, Bidyut Ghosh was assaulted. Reports of clashes over nomination filing also surfaced from Katwah in East Burdwan, Labhpur in Birbhum and Bishnupur in Bankura.
At Kalyani, Abhishek Banerjee gave a message to all TMC workers, asking them not to get involved in any kind of clashes. He assured the workers that the state administration is taking all measures to en-sure a peaceful atmosphere. He advised them that in case they come across any problem, they should inform the party’s high command and not take things in their own hands. Abhishek said that if any can-didate from any party is facing difficulty in filing nominations, they can inform him and he will help them.
Abhishek received a warm welcome at Gaighata, North 24 Parganas on Saturday. The roadshow wit-nessed a massive number of people who turned up just to get a glimpse of the TMC leader. Abhishek said this again confirms people’s faith and support for TMC.
Meanwhile, TMC leader Santanu Sen said that the state administration is taking all steps to rein the situation while police are taking action against the ones involved in triggering violence. He alleged that opposition parties are trying to stir up a situation which will cause a law and order problem so they can demand for Central forces.