Nandigram: TMC accuses Suvendu aide of assaulting man over house construction

Kolkata: Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Friday launched a fierce attack on Opposition Leader Suvendu Adhikari, alleging that a close associate of his “brutally assaulted” a person who was constructing a house in Nandigram block I after getting permission from the Calcutta High Court.

There was a dispute over the construction of a house, and Adhikari’s associate had opposed the construction, the ruling party claimed. After a case was filed, the Calcutta High Court gave permission to set up a house.

“On Thursday, Nandigram BJP leader Ashok Karan assaulted the man who was attempting to set up a house. Karan is a close aide of Adhikari,” Trinamool Congress leaders Kunal Ghosh and Dr Shashi Panja said during a press conference on Friday. They also alleged that Adhikari after realising that he will face a defeat from Nandigram, “Adhikari and his paid goons were assaulting people.”

The ruling party also released a video on social media showing how a man was being beaten up. It also uploaded a photo where Karan was seen alongside Adhikari. In a post on X, Trinamool Congress also wrote: “In Nandigram, a poor man was brutally assaulted in broad daylight simply because he was building his own home with legal permission granted by the Hon’ble High Court. The attacker? Ashok Karan, a known BJP leader and close aide of Suvendu Adhikari. This is what @BJP4India’s dirty politics has been reduced to; open violence, public intimidation, and the arrogant belief that the law does not apply to them.

Slamming BJP’s call for “Poriborton” (change), Trinamool Congress asked if this was the change the BJP was looking for. “This is the culture they have normalised. This is their real “Poriborton” where goons can attack anyone with impunity. Is this what Bengal wants? A Bengal where poor people are mercilessly beaten; where law and order is replaced by muscle power and political patronage?”

TMC leaders Ghosh and Panja also pointed out how a Trinamool Congress activist in Nandigram was “murdered” after being threatened by the BJP. The TMC worker, identified as Shakti Pada Das (or Pharing), was allegedly murdered in Nandigram.