Darjeeling: State Transport minister Suvendu Adhikari on Wednesday dubbed the BJP bandh an 'utter failure' and asked the party to take lessons from the day, thereby abstaining from doing the same mistake in future. He also asked people to remain united and stand up against divisive politics.
Islampur in North Dinajpur saw incidents of sporadic violence, arson and vandalising on one side and TMC holding a rally on the other.
Addressing TMC supporters from the Islampur Bus Stand, Adhikari stated that BJP was trying to politicise a non-political issue. "A full-fledged inquiry is on, the perpetrators are being identified. The persons will be brought to book. Despite all this why try to politicise a non political issue?" questioned Adhikari.
Four government buses were torched in Islampur and on National Highway 31 on Wednesday. Roadblocks were also put up by bandh supporters.
"The police are doing their job. 17 persons have already been arrested. There were 5 persons from Bihar with their faces covered. What were they doing here? This was not an all- India bandh," said Adhikari.
He stated that none of the persons who were involved in vandalising and torching the buses would be spared. "The CCTVs of the buses have captured the images of all who were involved. They will not be spared" stated Adhikari.
The minister stated that all this was being done to foil the TMC rally and to scare him. "Mamata Banerjee's team cannot be scared," he declared.
He alleged that BJP was resorting to politics of lies. "They say that the police fired and used silencers. I have never heard of police using silencers. They are doing politics over dead bodies," said Adhikari.
The TMC leader stated that BJP is trying to create differences among the people of Islampur. "However, they will never be successful in their sinister design. Communal politics will never succeed. The BJP will not win a single seat," he retorted.